RWBY - Warriors of Remnant
by rsclaymore
Summary: Ruby's life is turned upside down as multiple people from other worlds come to Remnant unknowingly fulfilling an age old legend of the Dragon Faunus.
1. A new life a new world

**A/n: I want to thank LordMesirix, Rocketmce, Pokeman1280, Blade1hunter, and chief of RAGE for letting me crossover their crossovers into one story. I hope you all enjoy.**

**The story that starts this off was written by LordMesirix and has been edited by me.**

**Also special thanks to Rocketmce who will be the beta reader for this story.**

**...**

The Void. An endless space of nothingness. And yet, there is something there. Rifts, portals, breaches, whatever you call them, they exist. Acting as windows and doors to multiple worlds.

A mysterious person gazed upon one of these portals. In this world was a young girl saying goodbye to her mother as she headed out on a mission that would change her both their lives forever.

"We missed you at the meeting." said a second figure appearing behind the mysterious person.

"Ah, Light! I was expecting you. I feel like it is time for the plan to come into motion."

"Everyone has discussed the plan we all have agreed it is time. Toro has already has begun his part."

Multiple voices rang out from the portals.

"_From the moment I first saw you, you've looked so sad. Your face shows so much pain."_

"_Earthquake, magnitude 7.1 detected."_

"_Welcome dragon rider."_

"_Tucker did it!"_

"_Cry some more!"_

"_Ruby, it's dinner time! come inside."_

The two men just watched as time began to flow through the portals. Another man appeared behind the two. "Light, finally I found you. I need that white crystal from you so my part of the plan can start."

Light simply nodded and created a white dust crystal in his hand. "Use it well, Newell." Light said handing it over to Newell. Newell smiled and tossed the dust crystal into one of the portals. The Dust crystal landed in a large open desert near a long stretch of road.

"Let's hope the boys find it." He turned and disappeared. Light turned back to the mysterious man. "Now with that out of the way, I believe it's your turn." They both turned and faced a silver portal, watching as a fight began to unfold.

…

The sound of metal rang out across the landscape as two women battled each other for survival. One was dangerously nearing the limit of her power, while the other was only using ten percent of hers.

Teresa slammed her claymore against Priscilla, flinging her into a stone outcrop. Priscilla was about to get up but was stopped when the tip of Teresa's claymore was mere inches away from her face.

"I'll say this while I can still get through to you," Teresa said as she stared down Priscilla. "It should be obvious to you by now. Suppress your Yoma power at once and return to your human form. It's not too late. But it will be if you wait much longer."

Priscilla lowered her head and began to speak as her mind was being taken over by her powers. "Papa… Give back my papa… He was so kind to me. I loved him so much. And yet, before my very eyes… My dear papa ate the guts of my mama, my brother, and my sister."

She jumped up and over Teresa and rushed her. Their claymores slammed against each other letting out another loud clang.

"That's why I killed him. I crept up behind him while he was eating my sister's guts and cut off his head."

At that moment the muscles on her back erupted. Destroying the back part of her armor. Priscilla dropped her claymore and clutched herself as she tried to suppress her Yoki. But it was too late she had gone past her limit.

She let out a small whimper as she realized she couldn't change back. "I… I can't go back." Priscilla cried as she looked up to Teresa.

"Please, help me." She begged. "Please! I don't want to become a Yoma."

Teresa's eyes changed back to their normal silver color as she suppressed her power. "I'm sorry… but I can't help you." Teresa said with pity in her voice. "All I can do for you… is cut off your head before the change is complete."

Priscilla was stunned but she knew this was the only thing that could be done. She sobbed as she lowered her head. "Please. Go on. Do it. While I… still have a shred of humanity."

Teresa stood there for a moment. "All right then, I'll put you out of your misery," she said as she was about to raise her claymore to end Priscilla's life, but she paused as she heard Clare cry out her name. "Teresa! Watch out!" but the warning came too late as Priscilla grabbed her own claymore and sliced through Teresa's wrists. "Eh?" was all she got out as she looked up and saw Clare horrified. At that moment Priscilla sliced through her neck and she fell where she stood.

_Clare… I'm sorry… _were her last thoughts in this world.

…

Teresa opened her eyes and saw a vast white landscape devoid of anything except multiple portals leading to many different worlds.

"It wasn't a dream?... I did die…" Teresa said to herself. She clutched her aching heart as she fell to her knees. "Clare… forgive me." at that moment she felt a presence behind her and turned around meeting the mysterious man.

Dressed in the purple and white robes of the priests of the holy city Rabona. The mysterious man approached Teresa. She got up and fell into a defensive stance. Her claymore was nowhere in sight, but that didn't mean she was defenseless. "What do you want, stranger, speak," she demanded. The mysterious man merely raised his hands in surrender and spoke, "Peace Teresa, I mean you no harm."

"How do you know my name?"

"My name is Rabona, and I know many things. I have watched over your world since its creation. I also know why you killed those bandits." Teresa visibly flinched at the memory as he continued, "But right now is not the time for a trip through memory lane, now is it?"

Teresa was getting ticked off at this person in front of her as she rudely snapped at him. "Just tell me what you want, and even then I won't accept your proposal!"

"Oh? Not even if it's another chance in life too with Clare again? To start a family? To be where the Organization can't reach both you and Clare?"

"What do you mean?" she asked him with narrowed eyes as he shrugged his shoulders. "You know what I mean Teresa, I can grant you a chance to reunite with Clare and a new life for the both of you. Only if you complete a request of sorts."

Teresa thought of this before making her decision as she nodded and replied. "Very well and this request?" Rabona smiled as he spoke. "Oh no, it is not me requesting this from you." He raised a hand and pointed over her shoulder. "But they are." Teresa turned around and noticed two women standing together. The first was a claymore like herself. The second woman, however, had silver eyes but what surprised Teresa was her hair… Black with red highlights and turning a bit grey in some places.

…

[Play red like roses part one]

Teresa entered a golden portal and found herself in a snow-covered forest. She recalled what had happened. She died, was given an opportunity to have everything back and more. All she had to do was fulfill both of those women's request.

A request to protect and mentor the final descendant of the two women, but she didn't know where she should start searching for her. Teresa felt something hit her feet and she looked down. A bag and her claymore lay on the ground. As she bent down to pick them up, she felt movement in the tree line. She quickly looked up and surveyed the area.

She saw a red-cloaked figure, a girl if her eyes were telling her right, enter the large clearing. Multiple wolf-like creatures made of darkness stared down the young girl. _Strange,_ Teresa thought as she sensed Yoki emitting from these strange creatures. Three of the creatures rushed the girl. When they got close enough, they pounced. In a flash of red rose petals, the girl disappeared. The three creatures landed, confused, searching for the girl. They all looked up to see the girl arching backward in mid-air. Teresa noticed the girl's eyes and hair. Her eyes were silver in color and her hair was black which turned red near the tips.

The girl grabbed her weapon off the lower part of her back and twirled around once in the air. Her weapon extended itself a bit and the girl took aim at one of the creatures who attacked her. The end of her weapon started to glow then let out a large 'BANG' sound. The head of one of the creatures exploded and it fell backward. The sound and the creature's head exploding startled Teresa. Never has she heard a sound like that or a weapon causing that much damage in just a split second done by a human before.

Two of the creatures noticed this and rushed the girl. She landed and quickly jumped over one of the creatures firing her weapon into the head of the creature. Using the recoil of her weapon, she did a flip and quickly fired again into the side of the other creature. She did a roll when she landed and popped up in front of another one. Raising her weapon, she fired into the side of the creature. The recoil flung her backward and she expertly did a perfect back roll. When she got up, she twirled her weapon around. And to Teresa's surprise, it transformed into a giant scythe.

One of the creatures growled at the girl, then rushed her. She swung the scythe at the creature but the blade of the scythe landed just behind it. The creature just growled at the young girl and stared into her silver eyes. The girl just smiled and pulled the trigger on the scythe. Another shot rang out and the recoil helped the girl pull her scythe through the creature. When both halves of the creature landed on the ground, Teresa noticed black smoke rising from the creature's body. When the smoke faded, the creature's body was gone.

Many of the creatures began to rush the girl. She twirled her scythe and stuck the tip of the blade into the ground. She carefully lined up the end of her scythe with the creatures and fired. Multiple creatures fell where they stood. One of the wolf-like creatures managed to get close to the girl and swung its claws at her. She simply jumped over the claws and fired into the head of the creature. It gave off a yelp and the girl was flung backward. After a few feet, the girl dug her scythe into the ground and landed on top of her weapon. Looking up she saw more of the creatures rush out of the forest, trying to attack her. She dodged another set of claws by flipping around her weapon. She then fired into another creature, using the recoil, back flipping into the creature she dogged. Her feet slammed into the creature, knocking it off its feet. The girl landed and swung her scythe at another creature, then fired. The recoil helped her back swing through one of them. She twirled her weapon, slicing through two more creatures. Her weapon then hooked around another creature's neck and she fired again, slicing through and decapitating it.

Teresa was quite impressed by how well the girl was handling herself. She watched the girl dodge a few strikes and hooked around the midsection of one of the creatures. Another creature charged at the girl, she simply fired her weapon and killing the creature and slicing through the other one. The top half of the creature she sliced in half slammed into one of the creatures, earning a little chuckle from Teresa. The girl jumped over another attack and back flipped over another that tried to pounce her. She rushed one of the creatures and cut off its arm below the elbow. She turned and sliced at the creature multiple times, managing to cut off the creature's leg as well. The girl swung her scythe and hooked it around the neck of another creature. It tried to attack her but she rolled under its claws and then jumped into its back. The creature let out a roar as she fired. The recoil of her weapon decapitated the creature, sending the girl into the air. Three of the wolf-like creatures jumped into the air to attack the girl. She fired into the air, sending her into one of the creatures. The girl landed on top of one of the creatures and slicing her scythe at its head. She aimed down and shot the creature to the ground. The recoil flung her into the air where she twirled around then fired her scythe again throwing herself at another wolf-like creature. She cut through the creature but as she landed, one of the creatures swung its claws at her, connecting with her scythe, sending her back a few feet.

Teresa sensed that the numbers of the creatures were dwindling. About ten to fifteen still were left in the clearing and there were none left in the surrounding forest. She watched as the girl stared down her opponents. The girl pressed a button and a small box fell off the scythe. She reached into one of her pockets and pulled out another box, but with four arrows pointing inwards towards a center circle on the side of it. She calmly stuck the box into her weapon and aimed it behind her. This time when she fired her weapon, the recoil was ten times stronger and she rushed into the group of creatures. As she ran by a few of the wolf-like creatures, she swung the weapon at them cutting a few down. She jumped, turned her scythe, and then fired, creating a Ferris wheel of death cutting down many of her enemies. Each time she fired her weapon, she got faster. Slicing and dicing the creatures, the girl cut down everything that was in front of her. Limbs, head and small pieces of metal flew through the air. When the last creature fell she shot it causing her to do a back flip and land doing a quick pose. A small shower of small metal objects fell around the girl as she smiled.

[end red like roses part 1]

Teresa was impressed. She handled herself well alone and had plenty of talent. _Not bad… _Teresa thought, at that moment she noticed a surviving creature nearing the girl. Acting quickly, she rushed out of the treeline and killed the creature with her claymore. The young girl noticed her and thanked her savior.

"Thanks! I'm Ruby Rose." Ruby said holding up her hand to Teresa.

_Ruby Rose…_ Teresa thought as a memory surged forward with a voice saying.

_Please protect little Ruby, She is all we have left._

So this is the girl she was looking for, she faintly smiled and replied "my name is Teresa." as she faced the young girl and shook her hand. Ruby's eyes widened when she saw the color of Teresa's eyes… silver.

"You… have silver eyes like me... Mom and grandma…" she said the last two sadly. Teresa raised an eyebrow at this, _So this is Ruby Rose? Well, now I see the resemblance, such a naive and innocent young girl, just like…_ her thought was stopped as Clare's face appeared in her mind.

"Umm… are you okay?" Ruby asked.

"Yes, I'm fine just a bit tired is all, traveling for so long is such a tiresome thing."

"Well, you could stay with me and my family. My house is not too far from where we are now."

"It's fine, I think an inn or a-"

"No! You can't!" Ruby said surprising Teresa then looked embarrassed. "I-I mean uhh. I insist you can stay at my home… and you know," she said pleadingly then looked down at her feet. Teresa smiled and placed her hand at the top of Ruby's head the same way she did to Clare.

"Fine, I guess you win, lead the way then," she said.

"Follow me then," Ruby said leading Teresa out of the clearing on a well-worn dirt path through the snow-covered forest.

_Emilia, I promise you I will protect your granddaughter and Myra, I'll teach and mentor her the ways of a claymore for you. Clare soon… soon we'll be together again._


	2. Training Begins

Half way through the forest trail, Ruby glanced at Teresa's weapon. To her it looked very familiar, it almost looked like her grandmother's sword that went missing years ago. But there was only one emblem on it and the grip was a different color, so it had to be a different sword.

"What is that weapon of yours?" Ruby suddenly asked her companion, they were walking out of the forest in silence and she had become uncomfortable from the silence.

"It's a claymore, Ruby," Teresa said as she pulled her weapon out of its scabbard on her back, slowly inspecting the blade then glanced at her small companion. "Why do you ask?

"Sorry, I.. uh… I'm a huge weapons nut and I was just wondering if I can see it? It kinda looks familiar..." Ruby stammered as she eyed the claymore in Teresa's hand. Teresa merely chuckled at that.

"I see, I don't suppose you can wait until we get to your home?" Teresa said as she returned the weapon to the scabbard on her back. Ruby nodded weakly as they exited the forest. "Though, I believe you have seen one like this.

"Yea... well… my grandmother had one that looked like it. Did someone special make it for you?" Ruby asked.

"There's a few out there but they aren't that common and very hard to make. But it's very likely that your grandma's sword was a sister blade to this one."

Ruby's eyes lit up at the thought of the two swords being made by the same person. She looked up and saw her home with the lights on.

"Oh, I think Yang is back now, c'mon miss Teresa, let's hurry!" Ruby said as she sped up towards her home. Teresa looked on and then ran after the young girl easily catching up to her. Ruby gave off a surprised squeak as Teresa caught up to her.

"H-how did you do that?" Ruby exclaimed, no one was able to match her speed when she used her semblance, but her new companion was able to catch up to her rather easily.

"Oh, this?" Teresa said as she smiled faintly at her young charge, "I'm just fast Ruby. Sometimes when I dodge attacks I leave after images of myself, and my enemy mistakenly attacks, leaving themselves wide open." This reminded her of a young girl who had recently become a claymore, whose natural talent was speed. If she remembered the nickname she earned right, it was Phantom Miria.

"That is so cool! Can you teach me some other things that you know?" Ruby asked squealing like a stereotypical high school girl that saw what interested her.

Teresa chuckled "Very well, but looks like we're here, how about you introduce me to this sister of yours?" The young red reaper nodded eagerly to introduce Teresa to her family.

…

"Yang! Dad! I'm home!" Rudy yelled as she opened the door. Teresa followed her into the house and noticed two blonde people enter the living room. One was an older man and the other was a teenage girl who looked a few years older than Ruby. "Oh! And this is Teresa, we met when I was returning from visiting mom and grandma." Ruby gestured at Teresa as the two blondes looked at her. Teresa nodded then spoke, "A pleasure to meet you, my name is Teresa. I'm a traveler of sorts and I just happen to come upon miss Rose here surrounded by ah… Grimm, so I intervened to help her."

"It's a pleasure to meet you miss Teresa, and thank you for aiding Ruby, oh right my name is Taiyang, Taiyang Xiao Long, but you can call me Tai," Tai said then gestured to the other blonde. "And this is Ruby's sister, well half sister, Yang."

"A pleasure, Taiyang, Yang," Teresa said, but at that moment another memory surged forward. _When you see Tai, please give him the letter in your bag._ Teresa reached into her bag and pulled out an old looking letter and handed it to Tai. "I believe this is for you."

Tai opened the letter and began to read it.

_Dear Taiyang,_

_If you are reading this then I have died and Summer is nowhere to be found. I have asked Teresa here to help Ruby train some hidden talents that she has inherited from an ancestor of hers. Normally Summer or I would train her but as I have said Summer has disappeared and I have died. Teresa specializes in these talents and can help Ruby naturally learn them as she learns to become a huntress. When it is time, I want you to give her my claymore. It will come even more natural to her than any other weapon she makes. I have seen this in Summer when she was young._

_When Teresa hands you this letter, she will need a place to stay while she teaches Ruby. I ask that you please provide a room for her, she will need it. Also while she is training Ruby, Yang may learn a few things from her as well. She will be a good influence on both of them. Please do this for me as my final request._

_Yours truly, your mother-in-law_

_Emilia Rose_

Tai looked up from the letter speechless. He looked at Ruby and smiled. "Miss Teresa," he began.

"Just Teresa is fine," Teresa said with a faint smile.

"Teresa," Tai said smiling back. "Would you like a place to stay while you train Ruby here and maybe Yang as well? We have a spare room that you can use."

"Well thank you, Tai, that would be most appreciated."

"Well Ruby looks like your grandma found you a new teacher before she passed away."

"Yay!" Ruby cheered. "Oh, before I forget can I see your weapon now?"

"Ruby!" Yang berated her younger sister.

"Oops… Sorry" Ruby said sadly, as Teresa smiled at her charge's little antics.

"I suppose so. I did promise you that I would show you my weapon, didn't I?" Teresa said as she took her claymore out of its scabbard. She gave it a small look over then glanced at Ruby. "Careful, it's quite heavy you know."

As Teresa handed Ruby her claymore, Yang suddenly shouted. "Where did you get that sword!"

Ruby visibly flinched when she saw her sister's eyes turn red. "Yang calm down! It's not grandma's sword. Grandma's claymore was one of the few that were made by the same people. Look even the emblem is different and grandma's has two."

Yang's eyes changed back to their normal lilac color as she calmed down. "I'm sorry it's just… Grandma's sword disappeared when she died and we still don't know where it is."

"That's understandable Yang. I get where you're coming from but there are more than one of these claymores out there." Teresa calmly explained.

Yang simply nodded and watched her sister try and hold up the claymore. "It's… quite heavy…" Ruby huffed as she struggled to hold up the claymore properly, once she got it to the proper height, a natural feeling washed over her body. When the feeling faded it felt like she had used the sword for years and was accustomed to its weight.

"Whoa! What was that?" Ruby asked. Everyone just remained silent. "I wonder what materials were used to make this."

Teresa smiled, this will be a long night after all. She answered all of their questions, especially why she has silver eyes, albeit keeping the truth for such reasons…

…

The next day Teresa woke up and walked into the bathroom. When she changed to use the bath, she noticed the stitched up wound that marred the body of a claymore was completely gone. _I see… so that's what he meant by some changes when he sent me here, _Teresa mused as she traced the line where the wound was supposed to be as she bathed. When she got done bathing and got dressed, she met both Ruby and her sister Yang in the kitchen preparing breakfast. "Dad went out early," Yang explained the absence of the older man. "And Ruby and I were wondering what was on that letter you gave dad last night?" she asked.

"That letter was given to me by your late grandmother and it explained to your father why I was here."

"And that was?"

"To be Ruby's new teacher. Your grandmother asked me to teach Ruby how to harness a hidden talent she has inherited from her mother's side of the family and she even said you can join in some of the lessons. Ruby has two more years of signal left and you have three months till beacon starts Yang." Teresa said thinking of the ways to teach Ruby how to sense Yoki in Grimm.

"Oh, that is so cool! What can I do? Will I be able to shoot lasers out of my eyes? Spontaneously combust like Yang does?" Ruby feverishly asked.

"Ruby!" Yang chastised her sister while being slightly embarrassed by one of the side effects of her semblance.

Teresa merely chuckled at the little red reaper's antics. "That will be a surprise until the lessons start. But until then, we should get a few things that will help with your training and find a proper spot to train." Teresa said.

"Well, we were going to head into town after breakfast. I need to get a few things and Ruby here needs more ammo after fighting that large pack of beowolves last night. Will the backyard work for a proper training spot, we have been using it for years." Yang said as she served Teresa a stack of pancakes.

"Well for normal training maybe, but the lessons I have planned need to be closer to Grimm for it to work. Also, what are these?" Teresa asked gesturing to the pancakes in front of her.

"Those are pancakes. I'm surprised you don't know what pancakes are." Yang said as she served Ruby a stack of pancakes.

"I traveled a lot for most of my life and I would be away from any sort of civilization for weeks to months at a time. So I never really had a chance to try new foods." Teresa said before biting into a piece of the food in front of her.

"Well, there's this spot that I know where Uncle Qrow used to train me. It's near the ocean and has plenty of space. Some times young Grimm will wander in while I was training there, making them great target practice." Ruby said after she downed her second piece of food.

"Well, why don't we check it out after we all get back from town. There are a few things I also need to get. If that's all right with the both of you." Teresa said as she noticed something. _Huh… I still feel hungry after a few bites. Must be another one of the changes he mentioned._

"What exactly are you planning on getting?" Ruby asked.

"Well I need a new scroll," Teresa remembered Emilia telling her it's one of the first things she will need to get before she arrived on Remnant. "A thick iron chain about ten feet long, something to keep the chain stuck to the ground, a durable collar that can resist beowolf claws and a ribbon or blindfold."

"Will we be capturing a beowolf?" Yang asked with a bit of excitement in her eyes.

Teresa simply nodded.

"Oh man, I can't wait!" Yang said as she sat down at the table with her own stack of pancakes and proceeded to consume them as fast as she could.

"Yang slow down. You'll choke yourself!" Ruby warned her sister.

Yang simply smiled and continued eating but at a slower pace. After they finished eating, Yang and Ruby showed Teresa around Vale. The first thing they bought was Teresa's new scroll. After some help from Yang, she finally learned how to use it. When they got done shopping, with Yang buying Teresa some new clothes, Ruby showed them the spot where her uncle used to train her. When they got there a single beowolf was sitting right in the middle of the training area. It locked eyes with Teresa and tried to attack her but in a matter of five seconds, she managed to chain the creature to the center of the training area.

"Wow, she's fast," Yang said impressed.

Ruby simply nodded as Teresa stepped away from her work. The beowolf was struggling against its restraints trying to claw at Teresa. She merely smiled at her handiwork. Teresa then pulled out her claymore and carved a deep line in the dirt a good foot away from the beowolf. Teresa pulled out a long red ribbon from her bag.

"Ruby, will you come over here?" Teresa asked.

She ran over to Teresa very eager to learn what she had in store for her. "Yes, Teresa?" Ruby asked.

"Are you ready for your first lesson?"

Ruby was ecstatic. A new skill to learn was just in front of her. All she had to do was take the leap. She nodded her head with determination in her eyes.

"Good, now I want you to stand behind the line I carved in the dirt and face the beowolf," Teresa said pointing her claymore to the spot where she wanted the young red reaper to stand. Ruby stood in front of the beowolf and waited for her next set of instructions. "Now I'm going to cover your eyes with this ribbon. If anything goes wrong both me and Yang will kill the Grimm before it even hurts you." Ruby nodded as Teresa covered her eyes. "Now I want you to try and sense everything around you." Ruby didn't understand at first but tried to do so. At first, she could sense Yang's warm aura. It always brought her a bit of comfort but, Ruby doubt Teresa was trying to teach her how to sense aura. Then something happened. Ruby felt dark energy emitting right in front of her. It surprised and scared her at the same. Ruby quickly took off the blindfold and faced the dark energy that she sensed. She was staring directly at the chained up beowolf.

"Well done Ruby," Teresa said congratulating her.

"What happened?" Yang asked with a confused look on her face.

"Wha… What was that?!" Ruby exclaimed.

"You just sensed the energy given off by Grimm. This will give you an edge while fighting them."

"Th… That was scary." Ruby admitted.

Teresa placed her hand on Ruby's shoulder. "Ruby. It's okay to be afraid of it, but I believe you can take that fear and turn it into strength to face the Grimm. This skill will help you not only know where a Grimm is but also tell you how strong they are." She turned and decapitated the beowolf. After the body faded from existence, Teresa walked over to the chain and collar and put them in her bag. "Each lesson I teach you will get a bit harder and harder as time goes on." She turned to face Yang. "Yang. Will you help me gather Grimm for these lessons? The experience may be useful for you as well."

Yang slammed her fists together and smiled. "Now things are starting to get interesting."

"Umm Teresa? How did you know about this?" Ruby asked.

"I also can sense Grimm. In a fight, I can sense Grimm three hundred feet around me. While I am alone and can focus the range to its limits, I can sense up to three miles. Also while I am fighting Grimm, I can read the flow of that energy and can tell when they are going to attack me."

"Oh wow!" Ruby said with sparkles in her eyes.

…

Three months went by as Teresa taught Ruby how to sense Grimm and Yang how to capture them. As they went home they were passing by the beach.

"So Teresa, I've been wondering. What is your semblance?" Yang asked.

"Well Yang, I don't have one yet. The reason why I don't is that my aura is locked and I have yet to find a way to unlock it," she mused. She wasn't even sure she had one in the first place.

"Wow your that strong without an aura? I wonder how strong you will be when you unlock it." Ruby squealed. She remembered watching Teresa haul an Ursa to the training area while it was still alive and knocked out cold. Yang that day finally managed to learn how to knock out a beowolf and capture it without turning it to ash. And she managed to finally learn how to sense multiple Grimm while fighting them. So yea, in Ruby's opinion, today's lessons were a huge success.

"Hey, guys. What's that over there?" Yang asked pointing down at the beach. Ruby turned her head and looked to where her sister was pointing. On the beach, there lay something cyan and black in color. As she walked over to the object, its features grew more distinct. When she got close enough, Ruby realized that it wasn't an object but a person wearing armor.

"Yang! Teresa! I need some help over here!" She shouted as she ran to the man's side. The man was lying down in the surf, his armor was dented, cracked, and broken in multiple places and his arm had an unnatural look to it. He was also bleeding from cuts on his arm, leg, and torso. Ruby knew from the lessons she learned at Signal and from her uncle that being wounded could bring the Grimm down on you.

The man wasn't conscious but Ruby tried to get him to wake up. Both Yang and Teresa caught up to her. "Teresa, Do you know if there's any Grimm nearby? We don't want to be attacked by them trying to get this guy to the house."

Teresa closed her eyes and sensed a pack of beowolves in the forest far enough away not to be too concerned about them. "We are in the clear for now but that can change any moment," Teresa warned.

"Do you think you can carry him back to the house, Teresa?" Yang asked.

She nodded and began to pick the man up. While doing so, the man started to stir a bit and let out a few words before falling unconscious again.

"P… Partner… K… Kaiju…" was all the man managed to say. They all realized that that man wasn't the only one out there.

"Teresa please take him to the house. Yang and I will go look for the other guy." Ruby said as she took off down the beach. She placed the man on her back and hurried towards the Xiao Long residence. A memory popped into her head. It was the last thing Rabona said to her.

_There will be others…_

…

**A/n: well guys I hope you enjoyed the second chapter. I have been wanting to write this story for some time. Also a side note I had just listened to the song forever fall from the new RWBY soundtrack and I do admit that I cried a lot.**

**Beta Note (B/N): I'll admit, this story took me by surprise when RS first told me about it. A bunch of different stories all coagulating into one big one? A daunting challenge to say the least. Still, I'm looking forward to where the story goes from here!**


	3. Deployment

**A/N: Note this chapter has only a few minor changes to it from the original story and it starts off the second crossover that is being added into this story. For me personally this is the story that inspired me to write and start this crossover. **

**Also again. Special thanks to Rocketmce for letting me use his story in this crossover and being my beta reader.**

**[...]**

Twelve hours earlier that day.

Earth 2024 (year 11 of the Human/Kaiju war)

Time: March 24th, 6:00 PST

Location: Los Angeles Shatterdome

Nickname: Angel's Warehouse

"_Warning: Category four Kaiju emerging from the breach. Codename: Bonemaw" _a computerized female voice announced throughout the shatterdome.

"WHAT!? A category four!? There's no way! We've never fought something that big before!" Shade yelled. Recently, category four Kaiju have been coming through the breach, causing massive amounts of damage to Jaegers, and even destroying several.

Shade Royal, a young seventeen-year-old Jaeger pilot. Younger than all other pilots except his partner, Hunter Green.

"_Would the pilots for Diamond Banshee please prepare for drop."_ said the computerized voice.

"Oh great! We're gonna be the ones fighting that thing." Hunter exclaimed sarcastically. Hunter was caucasian, with tanned white skin standing about 6'2" with a strong build. He wore a green T-shirt and blue jeans as well as tennis shoes. And for whatever reason, he had short, naturally dark, almost black, green hair.

"Hey, at least this isn't our first drop!" Shade remarked. Shade was smaller and more pale compared to Hunter. He stood about 5'11" and wore a near identical outfit to Hunter except for the fact that he wore a black shirt instead of green. He also had blue hair, the reason for that was the fact he dyed it, as his natural hair color was stark white.

Hunter and Shade quickly walked towards the drivesuit room to get suited up. Their armor was cyan in color, with the Jaeger program's symbol on the shoulder pads and their Jaeger's emblem over their hearts. The Jaeger program's symbol was an eagle with its wings outstretched above its head and a star between the wings. Their Jaeger's emblem was of a woman with black hair, with a long white streak in it, laying her head and arms down on top of a very large diamond. After the two pilots got suited up, they walked into the cockpit of their Jaeger and Immediately started chatting.

"Hey, twenty bucks says we take this thing down in less than five minutes," Shade said as he started to hook up to the rigging.

"Oh you are on! I say we can do it under three!" Hunter said back.

"Hahaha! We'll see my friend." Shade remarked.

"_Pilot to pilot protocol Initiating," _Diamond Banshee's AI voice announced. "_Establishing neural link."_

**[...]**

"Are they ready?" Marshall Stacker Pentecost asked. He was brown skinned, was about 5'10" and wore a rather stylish black military suit and tie.

"As ready as they'll ever be." Tendo, the Jaeger LOCCENT chief, responded.

The door to the LOCCENT mission control room suddenly opened rather quickly; "Wait! I want to see this!" A woman with black hair, that turned red at the tips, wearing cargo pants and a military vest over a white shirt said as she entered the room.

"Miss Shepherd, I would appreciate it if you would come here in advance to see your nephew launch before we are seconds away from said launch." The Marshall stated.

"Sorry Stacker, got held up with my designs." She responded.

"You are the only person I know who could be caught up in their work, that you might actually miss a bomb going off."

"Actually, that has already happened."

"Please don't remind me." He said ending their banter.

"We are ready for launch." Tendo announced.

However, One of the monitor's no one was paying attention to beeped with a message showing: 'warning, neural handshake is in jeopardy. Interference detected.'

But as nobody had used that station in years, it goes unnoticed.

Within seconds, Shade and Hunter's minds were thrown into the drift. Memories between two sentient beings, minds melding, sharing thoughts. It wasn't necessarily a smooth ride.

The two pilots soon jolted out of the initial drift, and back into reality.

"I am never going to get used to that." Shade stated.

"Ah, get over it." Hunter said.

"You boys ready?" They heard Tendo say over the radio.

"You know we are. Hey, do you know if Shade's aunt installed anything new? Hunter asked.

"Don't think so, but I'm not the one in command of all the Jaeger weaponry"

"True enough my friend, true enough."

"I'll ask her when we get back," Shade offered.

"Yeah, you do that. You'll probably be caught in that room for days listening to her rant on about her projects." Hunter argued.

"Oh please."

The roof of the Shatterdome opened and eight V-50 Jumphawks lowered their harness cables and attached them to Diamond Banshee's shoulders. Once the cables were firmly attached the Jumphawks lifted Diamond Banshee out of the Shatterdome and carried towards the location of the Kaiju.

"Listen up kids, this is a category four kaiju, first you've ever fought, I suggest you be careful." the Marshall said through the radio.

"Yeah, yeah. We hear you Marshall, But don't expect us to hold back." Hunter responded.

The helicopters disconnected from Diamond Banshee about half a mile from the target. Dropping them strait into a thick gray fog with the Jaeger disappearing into it.

"You see him?" Hunter asked after they landed.

"Nope, it's too bad it's so foggy though. Would have liked some clearer weather." Shade stated.

"Movement on our left." Hunter stated, turning his head in the direction of a black object moving through the mist.

"Any idea where he went?" Shade asked. He immediately knew the answer to that question as out of the mist, an unusually small, black Kaiju jumped up to try and claw at Diamond Banshee.

"LOCCENT, what kind of Kaiju is that!" Hunter yelled. Static. "LOCCENT! Marshall! What the heck is going on!"

"I think we're on our own!" Shade said, noticing the lack of response, "Come on! Let's send this thing back to where it came from!"

**[...]**

"Banshee! Banshee do you copy!" Stacker called over the radio.

"No response sir!" Tendo announced.

"Tendo, what's going on!?"

"No idea sir, all we've got is low quality video feed coming through." Tendo stated.

Stacker slammed his fists on the table, clearly frustrated.

"See what you can do, and get that video feed up on the big screen!" Stacker ordered.

**[...]**

Diamond Banshee quickly tried a jab at the black Kaiju, only for it to dodge with incredible speed.

"This thing moves fast! We gotta be faster!" Hunter said. Shade nodded and got ready for what came next.

One thing they did not expect was for a second, smaller Kaiju to jump on their back.

The second Kaiju resembled a lizard like fish figure. The first Kaiju, similar in look to the second, tried to claw at the head of the Jaeger. Managing to break through the protective shield between them and the pilots.

"They've breached the hull! We have to-" Hunter was cut off as soon as the first Kaiju drove its claw into the right arm of the Jaeger.

Hunter screamed in pain as the arm was ripped clean off. "I'm gonna kill this-" this time Shade was cut off by the sound of the Jaeger's left fist grabbing the second Kaiju's arm and yanked the Kaiju off their back and throwing it into the first Kaiju.

It was clear that Hunter was in a lot of pain. His right arm was limp and his face was contorted in pain.

"Sorry Marshall," Shade said as he pressed a button activating something. A message came up on the screen saying 'Plasma Ion Cannon Active."

Diamond Banshee's left arm transformed into a glowing blue 'tesla cannon' as his aunt had dubbed it.

The Kaiju had now gotten themselves untangled, and were ready to tear the Jaeger apart. Only for one of them to get shot in the head twice by a blue blast coming from the Jaeger, killing the Kaiju instantly.

The remaining Kaiju let out a screech at the Jaeger before leaping onto it, tearing at the Jaeger's abdomen.

Both Hunter and Shade let out cries of pain the Kaiju clawed at the Jaeger.

Shade with whatever strength he had left managed to get the arm's cannon pointed right beneath the Kaiju's jaw Unfortunately, this also happened to be mere feet from the opening in the cockpit.

Without thinking, Shade fired. Then everything went black.

**[...]**

"Sir! Plasma discharge off the coast near Banshee's position!" Tendo announced.

"Are they alright?" Stacker asked.

"I'm not sure sir, all signatures have gone dark. I'm trying to get them back as fast as I can." Tendo stated.

Stacker backed up in shock. He turned to his friend, who had her hands covering her face. The map showed no blips, no sign of the Jaeger's signature.

"No signal sir." Tendo announced, worry in his voice, "what do we do?"

Stacker grimaced. "Send out some recovery teams, find out what happened." He ordered. Stacker turned to Shade's aunt, placing a hand on her shoulder, "We'll find them."


	4. Welcome to Remnant

Darkness was all that Shade could see. Whether he was dead, dying, or in a hospital bed, he couldn't be sure. He felt warm like he'd been sunbathing for a while. Nothing hurt, but that could be due to the shock. He started to hear a voice. He couldn't understand it, but he knew it was a voice.

He flinched at the sound, and whoever the voice belonged to seemed to notice.

"Yang! He's waking up!" The voice said. It was definitely female, that was for sure. It also sounded young, probably belonging to a teenager… and for whatever reason, it sounded a tad familiar…

He felt a sharp stab of pain. He couldn't tell where it was located, but it was enough to make him jolt. Light suddenly engulfed his vision as he opened his eyes and took in a gasp of air before collapsing into a coughing fit.

"Whoa! Slow down! You're beaten up pretty bad." His rescuer ordered a tinge of worry in her voice.

Shade was lying on his stomach on what he guessed was a beach. He started to slow his breathing, trying to breathe without coughing.

"Yang! Come on! This guy needs some water!" She said, trying to get someone's attention.

"On it!" Another voice replied. Again female, but older than the first, and if he'd wager a guess, her name was Yang.

"Hang on, my sister's going to get you some water." the first girl said in a comforting tone.

"P-part… partner" Shade said before collapsing into a coughing fit.

"Ssssssh. He's okay. A friend of ours took him to a house not far from here. He looked pretty bad though." the girl said, trying to comfort him.

She succeeded in damping his worry for his partner if nothing else. He doubted a civilian would lie to him. Still, he had to find him as soon as possible. Their neural link had been cut mid-battle. He knew that test where the link was severed could be disastrous. It didn't seem to be affecting him, but he had no clue if it Hunter was faring the same.

"Here Ruby," Yang said, identifying her sister as Ruby.

A few seconds passed as someone held a canteen to his mouth as he drank. The water was refreshing, enough to stop his burning throat.

After the canteen was empty he tried to roll over onto his back.

"Yang, let's help him roll over," Ruby ordered.

Heaving him over, they managed to get him on his back, giving him a chance to look at this surroundings. One; he was indeed on a beach somewhere, and two; two young girls, one who he guessed was about his age with wild blonde hair and a rather… large, chest and another who he guessed was a couple of years younger with short black hair, dyed red at the tips. He took note of the fact that she has similar features like his aunt but disregarded the information for now.

"What's your name?" the older one asked.

"Shade," he answered. It was hard to speak, but not unbearable. "Where Am I?" he asked.

"You're on the island of Patch, off the coast of Vale," the younger one answered. "I'm Ruby, and this is my sister, Yang."

Shade started to sit up, he had no idea where 'patch' or 'Vale' was, but he'd never been at the top of his class in geography either. If he were to wager a guess, he'd say he was probably somewhere in Hawaii maybe. Though how he'd gotten that far would remain a mystery.

"You said my partner was okay, where is he?" He asked.

"He's at our cabin about a mile that way," Ruby answered, pointing behind his point of vision. "He was pretty beat up, we only found you because he woke up for a moment and mentioned his partner before passing out again."

Well, that was convenient. Hunter had always managed to wake up in the middle of the night and say something before passing out again. Shade never thought it could be anything more than an annoyance at best, but here it was, saving his life.

"Thanks." Shade said.

"Come on, let's get you back to the cabin," Yang said as she and Ruby helped him to his feet. "Hopefully, Teresa is patching him up right now."

"I doubt I can walk all the way." Shade said, grunting as they held his arms over their shoulders.

"Don't worry, we can carry you." Yang replied with a warm smile, "But if I catch you touching anything, I won't be sorry."

**[...]**

When Yang and Ruby carried Shade into the cabin, he saw Hunter still wearing his armor, laying on a couch asleep. A blonde-haired woman with silver eyes walked into the living room carrying a first aid kit.

"You find him?" the woman asked.

"Yep," Ruby responded helping Shade over to see where Hunter was. "Oh before I forget. Shade this is Teresa, she helped carry your partner here."

"Thank you." Shade said then turning his attention to Hunter.

Teresa nodded and went back to work getting everything needed to patch the two pilots up.

"He's been asleep since we found him," Yang said. "Do you know if he's okay?"

Shade frowned. He had no idea what the side effects of disconnecting from the drift so suddenly would be for his partner. It might be as simple as nausea, or it might have put him into a coma.

"Hopefully he'll be Okay. Let's just hope he wakes up." Shade answered simply, getting a nod in response from Yang.

"I'm gonna go find dad okay?" Ruby told her sister before Teresa called from the other side of the house.

"Over here, Ruby!"

Ruby hurried off towards the kitchen where Teresa and her father was. Yang turned and faced the young Jaeger pilot and carried him over to a second couch.

"Hope you don't mind the couch. We don't exactly have any spare rooms. Teresa is using our only current spare one." Yang said, setting him down on the said furniture, giving him a view of his partner.

"I'll be fine, if I can sleep on it I will." he replied, "Think you can help me out of this armor though?" he asked, gesturing to the cracked and broken armor. He had an under suit on, so it wouldn't be as if he was indecent.

Yang grinned, before helping him get out of the destroyed suit. She almost seemed a bit disappointed when she realized that he had the under suit on.

A few minutes later, Ruby walked back into the living room with Teresa and a man who Shade assumed was the sister's father.

"So you're the kids my daughters and their teacher found washed up on the beach, huh?" The man said. "I'm Taiyang, but you can call me Tai."

"Shade Royal. And my partner asleep on your couch is Hunter Green." Shade answered as he sat upright.

"If you don't mind me asking, are you two from Atlas? And if that's the case, what kind of armor is that?" Tai asked.

Atlas? Where was that? "If you don't mind I'd rather not answer, I will say me and my partner just took on two Kaiju. And my guess is Hunter probably has a broken arm under that armor." Shade said. He probably did, all things considered. Getting an external limb torn off can make your nerves and muscles do sine crazy things to your bones, not to mention the odd angle of his wrist.

Tai looked confused, and Shade wasn't the least bit surprised. Two Kaiju attacking at once? That was unheard of.

"Look is there some way I can contact the military?" Shade asked. Chances were high that everyone thought they were dead, might as well clear it up before they panicked.

"I'll see what I can do," Tai answered, suspicion clear on his face. He then walked into another room starting to dial on what looked like a phone.

"So… what's a Kaiju?" Ruby asked. "Your partner mentioned them when we found him."

"Ruby!" Yang exclaimed.

"What?"

"He's exhausted!"

"That doesn't mean he can't talk!"

"He just said he and his partner just fought two- what did you call them?"

"Kaiju." Shade said simply, a bit surprised why she asked.

"See! Whatever those Grimm were, they had to be huge!"

"I doubt that! If they were that big then either Teresa or I would have sensed them!" Ruby argued back.

Grimm? Shade was confused at the name, what did she mean by sensing them, and also he was even more confused when Ruby asked what Kaiju were. Maybe even a little concerned.

How could they never hear about Kaiju? Granted he knew there were ignorant people inland, more and more the further you got, but how could these girls not know what Kaiju were? They lived on the coast for crying out loud! On an island even!

Still, he did manage a chuckle at the two sisters arguing. He only wished he knew where he was.

**[...]**

Tai was… concerned. Who were these boys? They were wearing what looked like state-of-the-art armor, were washed up on shore, and couldn't be older than Yang!

It only gave Tai a bad feeling when they asked him if there was a way to contact the military.

Why would they be asking about that?

Pulling out his scroll he dialed Ozpin's number.

"_Hello?"_ Ozpin asked on the other end

"Hey, Oz? Think you could do me a favor?" Tai asked.

"_What is it?"_ Ozpin asked.

"Can you look up the names 'Shade Royal' and 'Hunter Green' for me? Tai asked, hoping they'd show up in the Headmaster's systems.

"_Why, who are they?"_ The headmaster asked warily.

"No clue. They both just washed up on the beach… Their gear looks like it's from Atlas, but they're too young to be military." Tai explained.

Ozpin paused, and Tai could almost hear the man thinking, "_I'll look into it." _Ozpin said flatly.

"Thanks, Oz," Tai said before hanging up. What an adventure this would turn out to be.

Back in his office Ozpin sat in his seat for a moment before turning towards his guest. "So Tenga, where were we?"

**[...]**

Shade woke up in the middle of the night to find the light in the room turned off. Tai had gotten them both some clothes to change into. Shade had gotten his and Hunter's injuries treated with the help of Teresa. After he got his wounds treated, he had gotten dressed and with the help of Tai of course, had gotten Hunter out of his armor, and into some new clothes. Though, Hunter had not woken up throughout the entire process, which worried Shade a bit.

Shade decided to take a walk outside, to clear his head a bit. A midnight walk never hurt anyone. But as he opened the door and looked up at the sky, his heart skipped a beat. The moon wasn't supposed to look like that

The moon was shattered.

**[...]**

In a dark soulless place, mere days before the pilots were sent into battle, A dark queen stood over a great pool in the hellscape she called home.

The queen simply looked into the dark pool before her. It was not like the rest, the others all spawned Grimm of some kind. But this one had been dormant since it was created.

"Why so shy?" the queen asked.

Reaching down she touched the surface of the pool and stirred the liquid with her hand. It was not thick and oily like she had expected. It had a smoother, thinner texture.

As she stirred, the liquid started to become clear, still not like water, but clearer than any of her other spawning pools.

Instead of seeing her reflection in the pool, she saw something else. It looked similar to her own hellscape, but it was somehow… Different.

There were tall spires all throughout the image, with what looked like giant Grimm-like creatures disconnecting from the towers every so often, only to fly, or swim, upwards.

She could sense that these creatures had a goal, not unlike her own. She smirked at the thought, feeling that they would be quite useful. All she had to do was figure out how to control them.

**[...]**

Shade almost couldn't believe what he was seeing. The moon, the thing that shined down on planet Earth, was shattered into thousands of pieces. He wasn't even going to try and think how the physics of that would even work.

He quickly touched his side where his wounds were at their worst. A sharp pain quickly ran through his side. Shade sharply hissed at the pain. He wasn't dreaming. Where was he? Why was the moon shattered?! He had to get answers.

"Are you alright?" A voice asked from behind him.

Shade quickly turned around and saw Teresa standing at the base of the stairs fully dressed and what looked like armored shoulder plates, armored plate skirt and a large sword on her back.

Shade stood there for a few seconds before answering. "Sorry, I was going to take a short walk outside. My injuries weren't as bad as I thought but they still hurt." Shade said as he hissed at another sharp pain from his side.

"You shouldn't go outside for a while in your current state," Teresa stated as she equipped a new set of titanium alloy arm guards before putting on her wrist guards. If one thing fighting Priscilla taught her, it was that losing your arms could mean certain death for not only yourself but those you are protecting as well. She wasn't going to let that cheap trick Priscilla pulled on her going to fool her again. She spent the last two weeks testing what metals could protect her from a sword, like her claymore and found this alloy did the job quite well.

"There's a pack of beowolves nearby and with how injured both you and your partner are, you both wouldn't last long." She deadpanned.

More questions began to pile up on one another. Why was she wearing armor and armed like that? And what on earth was a beowolf? He had to know what was going on.

"Why are you heading out?" Shade asked.

"I have to go track down that same pack. I need them for Ruby and Yang's lessons tomorrow." Teresa said simply. She walked past Shade and out the door towards the forest. After Shade lost track of her, he turned back into the room and sat back down on the couch. After a few moments of trying to make sense of his situation, Hunter suddenly woke up, Gasping for air in a panic.

"Hunter! You're awake!" Shade exclaimed with a mix of surprise, hope, and fear. "Whoa, calm down, calm down!"

It took a few seconds, but Hunter's breathing started to slow to a normal range, and his heart rate soon followed. The panicked look in his eyes faded as well.

Hunter quickly looked around the room and then at Shade. "Where are we?" Hunter asked, wary of their surroundings.

"I have no idea." Shade answered with a sigh, before sitting back on the couch "I don't know where we are. But we sure as hell aren't on earth."

Hunter looked at him, confused before examining the room around him.

"Well we're in a cabin," Hunter remarked, still confused, "Seems pretty earth like to me."

"Trust me. There is no way we are on earth." Shade said flatly "The people here have never heard of Kaiju!"

That made Hunter stop and think. Living in the American deep south, he'd never had much contact with Kaiju before the program, but even then, they were still very aware of the Kaiju threat.

"I've tried all our contacts, nothing is working." Shade said, "And on top of that, a lot of stuff I've seen so far is absolutely impossible."

Hunter tried to process what he has just heard. Not on earth? He thought it would have been impossible. But then again, giant monsters had started climbing through a portal in the pacific about twelve years ago.

"So you're telling me that we somehow got transported to some other planet?" Hunter asked, "Where Kaiju don't exist?"

"Do you know why the moon is shattered?" Shade responded.

Did he hear that right? "Did you just say that the moon is… shattered?!" Hunter exclaimed, raising his voice.

"Shhh! Keep quiet. There are other people sleeping." Shade said, "And yes the moon is shattered. My reaction was about the same as yours."

"I need to see this" Hunter said. He attempted to get up, but when he moved his right arm he cried out in pain.

"AHHH!- what the- is my arm broken?!" Hunter asked in shock, looking down at his arm, now wrapped in a rather well-made home brew cast.

"Yeah, It broke when we were fighting the two Kaiju, myself and two of the other people here patched it up." Shade remarked, gesturing to Hunter's arm being wrapped up. "You actually just missed one of them heading out to track a group of creatures called beowolves. I'm afraid to find out what they are."

"Are you okay?" A young voice asked, which Shade recognized as Ruby.

Hunter and Shade looked to see a half-asleep Ruby, wearing pajamas and standing halfway down the stairs looking at them.

"It'll be fine Ruby, go back to bed." Shade said, praying silently she hadn't overheard them.

"Says you" Hunter mumbled, "I'm the one with the busted arm."

"Shut up you'll be fine." Shade deadpanned.

Ruby started to walk back up the stairs to go back to bed.

"Okay, so who was that?" Hunter asked.

"One of the locals," Shade answered, "But before we do anything else, we need to make sure your arm doesn't come out of that cast."

**[...]**

Shade spent all night helping patch up Hunter, and when they both woke up, at 11:38 to be exact, They spent the rest of their day reading in the family's library with Teresa when she returned that morning.

Suffice to say, the more they read the more it confirmed them being on another planet, or worse, another dimension. They read about a strange material known as 'Dust' which was supposedly some kind of power source and propellant.

And that there were an entirely other species on this world, 'Faunus' as the books had called them. They looked just like normal humans but with a single distinct animal trait. They also learned about the four kingdoms, (Vale, Atlas, Mistral, and Vacuo), The creatures of Grimm, Aura, and Semblance, as well as huntsman and huntresses.

However, there was never any mention of Kaiju or the breach.

As Teresa got up and left the library, Hunter finally spoke. "Well, we are definitely in some kind of anime." He remarked, letting his head fall into the book he was reading.

"And we weren't already? Come on, we were fighting huge monsters in a giant mech, how much more anime can you get?" Shade retorted.

"We lived in ocean Gundam. These people do have superpowers." Hunter stated, "So maybe My Hero Academia or something?"

Shade snorted, "well we'd better come up with something to say, it's not like we can just be cryptic emo's like in traditional other-universe stories."

"Which one?"

"Do you ever read fanfiction?"

They soon came up with a cover story to explain why they had armor that looked like it came out of a sci-fi movie.

Shade and Hunter were testing out a new and experimental Atlas equipment, and when they were attacked by Grimm, they had to eject and swim towards shore. As for why they were so close to Vale, they decided that it was an aircraft and that they were flying it from Atlas to Vale and back, but then got attacked.

However, they did agree that the people who saved them deserved the truth. If they didn't want to send them to a mental hospital that is.

Shade walked into the living room just as Ruby, Yang, and Teresa walked into the house from that day's training lessons. Sighing, hoping that their plan would work and they wouldn't get sent to some mental institution.

"Hey Yang, Ruby? Can you two find your dad and bring him here, I feel like me and my partner have some explaining to do." Shade said

A few minutes later, Ruby, Yang, Teresa, and Tai were sitting at one end of the table, and the pilots were sitting at the other.

"Where do we start?" Shade asked rhetorically.

"We're from another world, Where we fight giant monsters called Kaiju, by piloting giant mechs," Hunter stated bluntly.

The four people in the room with the pilots just stared at them with confused looks on their faces.

"Does the word subtlety mean anything to you?" Shade asked his partner with a slight glare attached.

"Hey, I'm just glad we're not dead right now," Hunter stated.

"Wait- you're- wha?!" Ruby sputtered.

"That basically summed it up." Shade said, "Though I would have to be a bit more discreet about it."

"So you're telling me, That you two are from some other world?" Tai asked, clearly skeptical.

"Pretty much. Shade and I are about as close as our world gets to a huntsman." Hunter explained.

Did you say something about a robot?" Yang asked.

"They're called Jaeger's. They're about 275 to 300 feet tall," Hunter said. "They also take two people to pilot."

For about half an hour, they explained what Jaegers and Kaiju were and how they got to Remnant.

"And that's when I woke up on the beach." Shade said, finishing his explanation.

Tai just sat there with his eyes closed, his hands on his head and looked like he was thinking. Teresa just stared at the two pilots with the same blank expression on her face but Shade could tell just from the look in her eyes that she was in deep thought as well. Ruby and Yang, however, looked like their jaws would fall off at any second.

"Soooooo… do you believe us? Or do you want to send us to a mental hospital?" Hunter asked.

"DOYOUHAVEAPICTUREOFAJAEGER?HOWOLDDOYOUHAVETOBETOPILOTONE?INEEDACOOKIE!" Ruby said all at once, speaking far too fast for anyone to keep track of.

"Is she okay?" Hunter asked.

"She's obsessed with weapons, you should have seen her when she got Crescent Rose to work for the first time." Yang deadpanned, "So you're from another world?"

"Remind you of anyone?" Hunter asked Shade ignoring Yang's question. Shade simply nodded before turning his attention to Tai.

"Well, what about you Tai?"

"I think I need to process this a bit more," Tai answered before getting up and leaving the room.

"How many have you killed?" Teresa asked suddenly.

"Three not counting the two we just recently took on," Hunter answered. Teresa simply nodded and went back to her thoughts.

"What about you two?" Shade asked.

Ruby and Yang looked at each other.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Yang asked her sister.

"Probably not, I was going to ask if they have a picture of a Jaeger!" her sister answered, "Do you?"

"As a matter of fact," Hunter said with a smirk, Shade, did our phones survive the water?"

"Oddly enough, yes, that and apparently they use the same charging cords here on Remnant as they do on earth." Shade answered, "Except for yours, they still don't have any iPhone chargers."

"SCREW YOU APPLE! WHY DID YOU MAKE ME BUY YOUR STUPID PHONE!?" Hunter yelled.

"Huh?" Ruby asked, a bit taken back from Hunter's sudden outburst.

"Eh, he's just mad that the phone he bought doesn't use the universal USB charger."

"So like the Schnee companies scroll that failed a couple of years ago?" Yang asked, "Those things had their own charger and everything, but they were so expensive that nobody wanted to pay for them."

"Huh, yeah that sounds like Apple. Anywho, I'm gonna go grab my phone." Shade said before walking out of the room.

A few moments later Shade came back holding two rectangular cases. The two pilots open the cases revealing two rectangular objects.

"These things are our equivalent to scrolls." Hunter stated, "Except they're called phones, and are pretty bulky."

Hunter pressed a button on the 'phone' and the screen instantly came on.

Hunter messed around on the phone for a minute before handing it to Yang. The picture on the screen was a selfie of Hunter with Shade and a massive metal giant in the background.

"Whoa." Ruby and Yang said together. Teresa looked at the picture. Her eyes widened and it confirmed what she was thinking. _There are things out there worse than the creatures of the abyss._

**[...]**

Ozpin had spent the last several hours searching for the names that Taiyang Xiao Long had given him after his guest had left to an unknown place.

He had searched Atlas' system for them and came up empty-handed. No trace of 'Hunter Green' in the school or military system.

However, something else had caught his eye. There was no trace of Shade 'Royal', but apparently nearly Twelve years ago, a young child with a similar name was lost at sea.

Shade Schnee.

Ozpin didn't know why this caught his attention. He then thought about the fact that Tai had stated about their ages.

Neither looked old enough to be in the military. Which meant that they had to be under the age of twenty-one, As the military never accepted anyone not old enough to be a huntsman.

Shade Schnee disappeared at the age of five, which would place him now at seventeen.

He had to figure this out, These two had washed up on patch with state of the art armor, and with injuries that should have hospitalized them.

Of course, there was something else bothering him. The day Shade went missing, was also the day Summer Rose went missing. Still, this young man Tai had found needed further attention.

He decided to call Tai back before calling it a night.

"_Hey, this is Tai."_ An exhausted voice answered.

"Hello there Tai. I have… a request." Ozpin stated.

"_What kind of request?" _Tai asked, curiosity becoming evident.

"I would like you to keep an eye on the two young men you found."

"_Why, you find something on them?"_

"Perhaps," Ozpin said.

"_Well I hope you do, cause if not, I think these two might have a few screws loose," _Tai responded.

"And why is that?" Ozpin asked.

**[...]**

**A/n: Wow that took a tiny bit longer to write out than I thought. Oh well.**

**For those who are wondering why I wanted to write this story. I got the idea when I was helping Rocket write Jaegers and Grimm. And when I was Diagnosed with A.L.L. T-Cell leukemia I was determined to get this idea rolling. It's been over 16 months since then and I'm quite happy with the results and look forward to doing more.**

**Also a side note last weekend a few interesting things were released at RTX. New RWBY volume 7 poster (looks awesome btw) and the announcement that DCcomics is making a RWBY comic, oh man I can't wait!**

**B/N: New RWBY poster looks amazing I agree! New character designs and everything. Kinda disappointed they had to replace Qrow's voice actor, but only time will tell how he does.**


	5. New weapons and New experiences

**A/N: So there has been a few questions that have popped up about this crossover I'll address now.**

**First people have been wondering what crossovers will be in this story. The stories that will appear in this crossover will have RWBY, Claymore, Pacific Rim, Inheritance Cycle, Red vs Blue, and finally Team Fortress 2.**

**Second, some people have been asking if Ruby's grandma was a claymore and I'll say this now that she is not one but she is a descendant of a claymore who found her way to remnant and started a new life there. That claymore's sword was then passed down from mother to daughter throughout the generations.**

**[...]**

It had been two weeks since the two pilots had arrived on Remnant, and as it happened, they had been adjusting rather easily.

That night after Shade and Hunter revealed that they were from another world. Teresa told the two pilots that like them, she was also from another world while keeping from them the truth of how she got to Remnant to herself. She told them everything about her world from its defenders, which she was once a part of, to the creatures that she has fought and defended people from, to when she met Clare.

The pilots themselves were surprised that Teresa was from another world but accepted her for who she was. Which lightened Teresa's spirit a bit, cause claymores in her world where usually outcasts in society in her world.

Yang was going to Beacon academy in a couple of weeks, and Tai had offered to pull some strings and get the two pilots into Beacon if he could. And Since they were both the right age, it probably wouldn't be too difficult.

Their injuries that they sustained from fighting the two Kaiju had healed up nicely. They had decided to head to Vale for a few days to try and see what the city and world they were in was like first hand. That, and to research more on Aura.

In that time, Teresa told them about a weapons and armor smith that she had discovered that make her custom made arm guards. The shop was close by to where they were staying and Tai had given them some money to buy some weapons and a couple of scrolls, so they agreed they agreed they might as well use it.

The store, 'Cole's Weapons', was a brick building squeezed between a bakery, and a clothing store. An odd combination to say the least.

The pilots walked into the store, where there were weapons and armor lining the walls. Swords, axes, rifles, shields, you name it, it was probably on it.

"What can I get for you two?" a Tall man asked as the pilots walked into the store. The guy reminded Shade of Agil from the anime Sword Art Online and Erhard from Rising Shield Hero (Blacksmith guy). Although, to Shade the guy looked more like Agil.

"We were wondering if you could help us, We need some new weapons." Hunter answered.

"You two must be some new Beacon attendees, What can I get for ya?" The shop owner asked.

"We're actually not sure, we were hoping you had some on display." Hunter said.

"Well, I can show you some of the newer models if you want." the man offered. "Names Cole by the way."

"Shade, and that should be fine." Shade said.

Cole went into a back room and came back a few minutes later holding a black case.

"This is the latest thing." Cole said.

He opened the case revealing a black gun shaped like a pistol, like a standard pistol, but with a revolver's chamber just in front of the trigger. It was also bulkier and had a much longer barrel, not quite as long as a rifle, with a box-like attachment on the end of it with some kind of mechanism inside.

"This thing is a revolver style semi-automatic, and can hold up to four heavy Dust pellet shell's at a time. It's also built to fire one-handed," Cole explained "And if you press this button here-" he pointed at a small button on the side of the grip "It'll transform into a one-handed mini-scythe. Additionally, if you press this button here the scythes straighten out and form a sword but you can't fire when its in that form."

Shade looked at the gun and frowned. He never did like complicated designs.

Hunter on the other hand looked at the device in awe. He knew exactly what he wanted now.

"How much would two of these cost?" Hunter asked.

"I'll warn ya they aren't cheap. One would cost about 6,000 lien. But I think I could knock down the price of two to about 10,000." Cole explained.

Hunter took out his wallet and started counting.

"Do you have something simpler?" Shade asked, "like maybe a pistol or sword?"

Cole rubbed his chin. "We do have a pistol and sword combo deal if you want." he offered.

"How much?" Shade asked.

"500 lien for the combo, the sword would cost 300 on its own, same for the pistol." Cole answered.

"That sounds okay, where are they?"

Cole pulled a large blue box out from beneath the counter. He opened the box to reveal a large sapphire blue sword and a black and white pistol. Beneath the two weapons was six medium sized Dust crystals.

"Truth be told, I've been trying to get rid of these things for over a year now." Cole remarked.

Hunter stopped trying to count his lien and shot a disapproving look at Cole before returning to his wallet.

"Why?" Shade asked.

"These things have never stayed with the buyer long. They all said the same thing. 'It just doesn't feel right'." Cole answered. "Also you should know, there's a spot on the sword where you can attach these dust crystals in the middle of the hilt." He said, pointing to the spot on the sword.

"Hmm… Okay, I'll take it." Shade said.

"Good!" Hunter said "I just finished counting and we have just enough for two of those things and your sword and pistol."

"How much?" Shade asked.

"10,524 lien." Hunter answered.

"Well Cole, it looks like we'll be taking these things off your hands." Hunter said.

Hunter took out a few items out of his wallet, then handed the lien to Cole. The bell to the front door of the store rang as it opened and both pilots turned around to see who it was. Teresa walked into the shop looking at a list of supplies she needed to get. She looked up from the list and noticed the three men looking at her.

"Oh? Hello Shade, Hunter." Teresa said walking up to the store counter.

"Hey Teresa." Hunter said giving her a small wave then turned his attention back to Cole. "Can we get any extra ammo with the spare change? Oh! Also you wouldn't happen to have these in a different color would you?" he asked, gesturing to the shotgun scythes.

"Sure, what color?" Cole asked.

"I was thinking maybe a dark green?"

"I'll go grab them for you." Cole said before turning his attention to Teresa. "Your special order just arrived today miss Teresa. I have them in the back." he then turned and walked towards the back room.

Shade picked up the sword in his right hand and the gun in his left, "It feels… heavy."

"What'd you expect?" Hunter asked, "For it to glow or something?"

Shade only shrugged, "I mean half the stuff here transforms into a gun. Guess it's just a surprise that it doesn't."

A few minutes later Cole came back carrying three boxes which the pilots assumed had the gun-scythes, ammo and whatever Teresa had special ordered.

"As far as the ammo goes, It's all in this box." Cole explained holding up the large box of ammo. "Should be enough to last you a couple of weeks."

"Teresa opened the box she was given, revealing two custom made titanium alloy armored leg guards with one of them having a silver embroidered leather gun holster and her emblem in red in the center of it. Under the armor sat a large caliber handgun. It was silver in color around the firing chamber, slide and barrel. The rest of the gun was black in color. Red and gold trimming danced around the whole gun in a beautiful pattern. On the grip however, Teresa's emblem lay dead in the center, fiery red in color. Shade noticed engraved just under the slide were some words that said '_Desert Falcon .50 cal'_.

_Huh, must be this world's version of a Desert Eagle_, Shade thought. Another thing he noticed about Teresa's new gun, it had a built in compensator to reduce the kick from such a strong gun.

"If you two need any help with your new weapons getting them clean or repaired while your at Beacon you can always ask my twin brother Ash for help. He's the quartermaster and runs the armor and weapons shop there as well." Cole said with a smile.

Teresa reached into her bag and pulled out twenty gold rods (Bera's) and a few lien and handed them to Cole. "Thank you Cole for everything," Teresa said as she took the box and began to walk out the door.

"Well come back again some time and check this place out a bit more." Hunter said as he and Shade grabbed their new weapons and followed Teresa out of the shop quite satisfied.

"We should go to a shooting range and test these things out before heading back to the place Tai set up for us." Shade said looking at both Hunter and Teresa. Both of them nodded before they began to walk towards a nearby combat testing ground.

**[...]**

**KABOOM!**

The target Hunter shot at exploded in a flaming mass, singeing the area around it.

"Heck yeah!" Hunter declared "If only my dad could see these things!"

Hunter and Shade were enjoying themselves at the Signal academy training area, with Teresa training Shade how to properly fight with his sword and they both were getting used to the feel of their guns. While Hunter, on the other hand, kept experimenting with the different ammunition types.

"Hey, I never saw you this excited when I showed you the Jaeger we were going to pilot." Shade said slicing a foam beowolf's head off and then firing his pistol into the head dead center before it dropped to the ground.

"Hey, that was your thing, I had no say in what I got," Hunter stated "besides! Who designs a Jaeger with no explosives?"

"My aunt." Shade responded.

"Oh, right" Hunter said flatly, "I never asked, how did your aunt get into the Jaeger program? I mean, If she was a pilot, okay, duh, but she's not."

"Truth be told I'm not sure, I was only seven when she joined. And all I know for sure is that it was the marshal who recruited her." Shade answered.

Hunter shrugged and loaded some gravity dust rounds into his weapons and then fired. He was sent flying into the back wall, surprising both Shade and Teresa.

"Hunter!" Shade exclaimed, "Are you okay?!"

Hunter got up from where he crashed landed and rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, I'm okay." he said wincing a bit. "Should have taken Ruby's warning about gravity dust more seriously, she was right about it having a big kick."

Shade just laughed.

**[...]**

After they had finished 'testing' their new weapons, all three of them walked to the 'home away from home' as Yang had called it. More specifically, it was a penthouse reserved for Huntsmen and Huntresses, as well as Beacon students if they were staying in Vale.

"And where have you guys been?" Ruby asked as soon as they all walked in the door, looking up from the magazine she was reading.

"Out at signal's public training area." Hunter answered "These things are awesome!"

Oh! You got new weapons!" Ruby exclaimed, stars in her eyes as she ran up to the three of them.

"Sure enough!" Hunter remarked.

The next few minutes were spent showing their new weapons to Ruby. She was impressed with Hunter's twin gun-scythes and was in total awe with the beauty of Teresa's new Desert Falcon.

"So, what's their names?" Ruby asked.

"Name?" Hunter asked back.

"You didn't name them?!" Ruby asked, as if it was the most obvious thing to do.

"I guess I never really thought about it." Hunter remarked.

"What about you Shade?" Ruby asked.

Shade thought about it for a minute.

"How about 'Brasa Azul'? It means blue ember," Shade asked.

"Whoa. what language is that?" Ruby asked.

"Portuguese, only reason Shade knows it is because he learned it while growing up traveling from country to country while living with his aunt." Hunter answered. "Also the only reason why I know it is because I had to learn it in high school."

"High school?" Ruby asked, "and what's a country?"

"Basically Signal academy, remember we're from another world, that and my aunt insisted I learn some other languages while we traveled for her work. And a country is just another word for kingdom." Shade answered.

"Oh, okay," Ruby said understanding, "What about you Hunter? What are you going to name yours?

"Well, I don't know. How 'bout 'Twin Leaves'?" Hunter asked.

"Oooooooh. That sounds cool." Ruby agreed, a wide grin on her face. "What about you Teresa?"

Teresa thought for a moment before responding. "How's about 'Silver Jackal'" She said while looking over her gun. "I still don't have a name for my claymore but it will eventually come to me."

Ruby's eyes just sparkled with stars as she heard the name. Tai walked in as soon as their conversation was finished, holding two slips of paper.

"Good news! You two are going to Beacon!" he announced.

"We are?" Shade asked mystified.

"Yep, turns out when I asked Ozpin about you two, he agreed right away." Tai answered.

In truth, Tai was as confused as they were. He could only guess Oz wanted to keep an eye on these two after what he told him.

"Yes! When's our first day?" Hunter asked.

"Two weeks, that's how long you two have to get comfortable with your weapons as well." Tai said.

"Shouldn't be to hard, oh, by the way, where's Yang?" Hunter asked.

**[...]**

Yang walked out of a destroyed nightclub, with a frown on her face.

_Another lead down the drain…_ Yang thought to herself. She continued walking passed the knocked out club owner and back towards where Shade and Hunter were staying at.

**[...]**

That morning Teresa woke the two pilots up and after a quick meal they headed back to Patch for a special lesson Teresa was going to teach. After thirty minutes of travel time they arrived at Teresa's training ground with Ruby waiting for them there.

"Hey guys! You finally made it." Ruby called over to them as she waved her hand. "Did you guys bring your weapons?

Hunter pulled out Twin Leaves and flipped the switch extending the scythes on the gun. "Heck yea we did." Hunter said showing off a bit.

"Umm, where's Yang?" Shade asked.

At that moment the two pilots heard rustling coming from the tree line. Yang's bright blonde hair began to show through the trees and foliage. "Oh wow! Yang managed to catch eight of them." Ruby said a bit surprised.

"What do you mean by eight of them?" Shade asked. His question was immediately answered when Yang walked out of the forest carrying eight unconscious beowolves. She continued to carry them till she reached the center of the training area. She set down the pile of unconscious beowolves and then started moving each one to different X's marked in the ground around the area.

Teresa walked over to Yang and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Congratulations Yang, with this you have proved yourself ready for Beacon."

Yang's eyes lit up. "Yes!" she cheered. "There was an alpha in that pack but it died when I tried to knock it out."

Teresa turned and faced the two pilots. "The lesson for you two today is that I want you to kill these creatures on your own, without the help from me, Ruby, or Yang." Teresa said.

"Seriously?" Hunter asked a bit shocked.

"Yes," Teresa deadpanned. "I need to see your skills for myself to see if you are ready for Beacon."

Shade pulled out Brasa Azul and Hunter loaded the shells he needed into Twin Leaves. Both Yang and Teresa walked back over towards Ruby and then turned to see all eight Beowolves begin to regain consciousness. Shade loaded his pistol and watched as the all of the Beowolves rise up and face the two pilots.

"Ten Lien says I can kill my half before you can." Hunter said as he aimed at the Grimm.

"I'll take that bet." Shade responded.

One of the Beowolves let out a loud howl and then the pack charged the two pilots. Both Shade and Hunter charged into the pack and started firing their weapons. One of the slugs from Hunter's weapons nailed one of the Beowolves in the center of the head, knocking it off its feet, shattering its bone mask and causing the creature to do a full back flip. When it landed flat on its stomach the creature began to evaporate with black smoke rising from its body.

One of the rounds from Shade's pistol stuck the bone mask of another Beowolf causing its head to rise up. Shade got in close and swung Brasa Azul, quickly decapitating the creature. Shade turned and dived under a Beowolf claw that tried to strike him. Raising Brasa Azul he cut off the offending arm and quickly sliced at the Beowolf's legs cutting right through both of them at a downward angle. The Beowolf fell on its back and Shade ran over to it and stabbed Brasa Azul right in the mouth and out of the back of the head.

Hunter raced towards the next Beowolf, fully extending the scythes on Twin Leaves, he hooked around the shoulders of the Beowolf. Using the kick of a gravity dust shell, Hunter sliced through the bone spikes on its shoulders and completely severing the shoulders. The Beowolf howled in rage exposing its neck out for Hunter. He aimed his weapons at the underside of the Beowolf's head and fired. A large hole erupted out of the top of the Beowolf's skull.

Shade reached into his pocket and attached a fire dust crystal into the hilt of Brasa Azul. The blade glowed red in an elegant design and blue flames erupted from the edges of the blade. Two Beowolves charged the pilots. Shade jumped over a lunged attack and sliced through the Beowolf from the left shoulder to the lower right side, engulfing it in flames.

Hunter ducked under a swipe from his Beowolf and hooked the scythes around the sides of its torso. Using two more gravity dust rounds, Hunter sliced the Beowolf into four pieces.

Both pilots turned and faced the last two creatures. Hunter pressed a second button on the weapon in his right and the gun-scythe turned into a gun-sword. He then pressed another button on the weapon in his left hand and the scythe folded back into the gun. Both Hunter and Shade did something unexpected as Teresa and the sisters watched. Both pilots got into an exact same stance. The last two Beowolves charged them. Shade and Hunter's movements completely synced up and looked like they were moving as one person. The two Beowolves pounced at them. Both Shade and Hunter slid under the creatures and fired their guns into the belly of the Beowolves. The two creatures were forced higher into the air. Hunter and Shade turned and decapitated them as they fell. The two pilots got up and faced Teresa.

"So how'd we do?" Hunter asked.

Teresa simply clapped her hands. "Well done." she said congratulating the two pilots.

Shade looked over to the two sisters and noticed the shocked look on their faces.

"What?" Shade asked.

Yang was the first one to come back to her senses. "How did you guys do that?!" She exclaimed.

"Do what?" Hunter asked.

"Synchronization combat!" Ruby squealed. "That was so cool! I thought that type of combat was impossible without some kind of mimicry semblance."

"Ah crud." Hunter said with a hand on his face. "We let another one slip."

"Why do you think that was a bad thing?" Ruby asked.

"It's one of the few life changing side effects from piloting a Jaeger. Unless we are fighting a Kaiju, it can get very embarrassing." Shade explained.

"There's a name for it. It's called ghosting." Hunter continued. "Besides that which one of us killed our last Beowolf first?"

Teresa walked over to them. "You both killed the last two Beowolves at the same time." She answered.

Shade let out a long sigh. "Looks like we owe the marshal again." he groaned.

"We'll pay him when we get back to earth. Whenever that may be." Hunter said patting his partner on his back.

"Huh?" Yang asked a bit confused.

"We made a deal with the leader of the Jaeger program. Whenever we made a bet against each other and the result ends up in a tie. We pay him the winnings of the bet."

Both Ruby and Yang let out a laugh. Ruby then turned towards her family's cabin. "Come on guys let's tell dad how well you did.

With that both pilots put their weapons away and began to follow the little red reaper home.

**[...]**

**A/N: Well guys here's chapter 5 and it was fun having the first two crossovers begin to merge here and create a new story. Also season 1 of RWBY starts next chapter so look forward to it.**

**Side note. 2 things happened to me this week while writing this chapter. First off I finally got to listen to the song dedicated to Monty Oum, Indomitable. (may you rest in peace bro.) I admit I cried a lot when I heard the song and I made a vow that this song will end up in this story line and I have an idea how it's going to happen. Second, Three months ago the doctors keeping track of my cancer took me off chemo treatment to let my body heal from all the harsh chemo that they were using on my body. But now my body back to proper health where they can start treatment again. Most of it will be okay and give me more time to write for you guys but if I see that ohmiya tap needle again I'm gonna lose it. The last few times they used it on me it has made me throw up to the point where it literally knocked me out cold like Yang did with those Beowolves. Yea, it's not fun. Please my readers never get cancer it makes your life a living hell.**

**Update: guys plz pray for Kyoto animation they were hit by an arsonist and they lost almost everything.**


	6. The First Steps

It had just past 7pm. Hunter, Shade and Teresa walked down the sidewalk on their way to pick up Ruby from a Dust shop not far into town. Per Tai's request of course.

"You guys remember what store Tai said she was going to? Hunter asked.

"'From Dust till Dawn' is where he said she'd be. It should be just around the corner." Shade answered.

As they turned the corner they saw the shop at the end of the street, with two large tinted glass window next to the door.

"Well there it is" Hunter deadpanned, "kinda quiet around here though…"

Without warning, the glass window shattered and two people flew out of it. One of them was a man dressed in a black suit and matching hat, he was also wearing a red tie and red sunglasses. The man was holding a red colored cleaver that got knocked out of his hand when he landed on his back outside the shop. If Shade had to guess who this guy was, he was some sort of small time thug. The other person who crashed through the window was none other than Ruby Rose.

"Ruby?!" Hunter asked slightly shocked.

"Oh, Hi Hunter, Hi Teresa, Hi Shade!" She said in a cheery voice, seeming oblivious to the groaning man underneath her.

Teresa slightly smiled at Ruby seeing how well she had handled herself. Before any of them could reply to Ruby, five more thugs rushed out of the shop at the four of them with swords and guns drawn.

"Well it looks like we may have a problem." Shade stated.

"How long do you think it'll take?" Hunter asked.

Less than thirty seconds." Shade said with a smirk.

"What?!"

The five thugs attacked. Teresa immediately slammed one of them into the brick wall of the building by the head, getting the guy's whole body stuck in the wall at the same time, knocking the thug out.

Another thug went after Ruby. She sliced at the thugs legs with Crescent Rose's blade, tripping him up and causing him to flip a few times in the air. After twirling Crescent Rose a good three to four rotations, Ruby then slammed the flat end of her scythe into the thug causing him to fly a good twenty feet away from her.

Hunter swiped at the thug that tried to attack him. Hooking one of Twin Leaves's scythes around the left leg of the thug, Hunter made him do a one and a half spin flip before kicking the guy in the jaw.

Shade expertly blocked all swipes and swings at him from the blade a thug was trying to use to attack him with, with Brasa Azul. Shade then managed to break the blade from the thug's grip, sending it onto the roof of the shop. Using the grip and hilt of his sword, he Struck the guy in the jaw knocking him down to the ground.

The last thug tried to attack Teresa only for her to block the man's blade with her claymore. With two swift and elegant movements she cut the man's right hand off and sliced into his chest. Teresa was surprised that his aura did nothing to protect him from her claymore. It was as if her sword passed through the man's aura unaffected.

_How odd… _Teresa mused.

The whole fight lasted twenty six seconds and all the thugs were on the ground either groaning in severe pain or unconscious.

"Well then," Hunter deadpanned, "looks like I owe you Shade."

A sharply dressed man wearing a white coat and a bowler hat, walked over to the nearest thug who lay unconscious on the ground. Shade noticed he had orange hair that covered his right eye, though it was obvious he was wearing a bit too much eyeliner.

The man looked down at the thug. "You were worth every cent, truly you were." he said before looking at the group of people who beat his thugs in a matter of seconds. "Well Red, Blondie, Gentlemen, I would say this was an eventful evening. But as you could see we were in the middle of a business transaction before you four crashed in."

Both Teresa and Ruby glared at the man. Hunter then spoke up. "Looks more like a robbery to me." He spat.

"Well I'd love to stay and chat." the man said as he pointed his cane at Ruby. "But I think I'll be leaving now." The man grinned as he fired a red flare like round out of the end of his cane..

Hunter jumped in front of the round blocking it from hitting the red reaper.

"Hunter!" Shade yelled.

The smoke cleared and Hunter stood there with a bright green aura surrounding his whole body.

"Whoa… this is new." Hunter said curiously.

"Hunter are you okay?" Shade asked.

"Yeah, and I think I just unlocked my aura!" Hunter said excitedly.

"There!" Ruby shouted "We can't let that creep get away!"

She pointed to a ladder on the side of a building where the robber was climbing up to its roof.

"Come on before he gets away!" Hunter exclaimed.

Teresa looked around and noticed some of the thugs were getting back up after recovering from their injuries. Even one of them had called in reinforcements which were closing in quickly down the street.

"Go! I'll catch up!" Teresa ordered at Ruby and the two pilots.

All three of them nodded as Ruby used her semblance with the recoil of Crescent Rose to get to the top of the roof. Shade and Hunter quickly followed up the ladder with both of their weapons drawn.

**[...]**

Teresa turned and faced the thugs that stared down at her.

"Hmmm… I say that you all should give up now if I were you." Teresa said to them as she smiled faintly.

"O-oh yeah and what are ya gonna do, you blonde bitch!" the thug with the missing hand yelled back in defiance. That said defiance shattered along with the rest of the thugs will when they all saw Teresa's silver eyes turn gold with her pupils turning to slits, emanating a feral glint from them. The Yoki energy Teresa released from using just ten percent of her power made some of the thugs collapse from the pure energy itself. Two of the thugs even passed out.

"Considering that you all are making me angry then nice try but I tire from this… little game of ours. Now then… I won't be held responsible for whatever remains left… if there are any that is… just like what I did to some **Filth **after they raided a small village and killed everyone." Teresa said as she remembered those bandits and their plan on what they would do to Clare as she released enough killer intent to make her point across but not enough to attract the Grimm. "And I'll start with you!" She said pointing at the thug who lost his hand as that man reminded her of that bandit who attacked Clare.

The thugs put two and two on what she had told them and knowing that she wasn't bluffing, they turned and ran away leaving those who were unable to move in the street. An explosion was then heard coming from the roof.

Teresa looked in the direction of the explosion and muttered one word… "Ruby…" fearing for the girl, she jumped and landed at the top of the next building over.

**[...]**

A few moments earlier on the roof.

Ruby and the two pilots managed to get to the roof and corner the man on the roof. But at that moment a bullhead pulled up and the man hopped on. He turned and faced the three teenagers.

"End of the line you three!" he shouted before throwing a red Fire dust crystal down at them and shooting it with one of his flare rounds.

The ensuing explosion was blocked by what looked to be some sort of giant purple glyph. Shade turned and saw that the glyph was being cast by a blonde woman wearing a white blouse, purple dress skirt and a short purple cape.

She quickly started summoning purple flares and sending them at the airship.

When he looked back up at the bullhead, he noticed that the man they had been fighting was no longer visible, and in his place was a woman whom Shade couldn't quite make out the features of.

"Hunter, can those shells of yours reach that airship?" Shade asked.

Hunter shook his head, "The buckshot won't make it that far!" But before anyone could respond further, he changed out the red colored shells with a solid red line wrapping around the brass end of the round with some green colored shells with another red line wrapping around the brass end of the shell. "But the slugs should do just fine!"

He launched a barrage of slug fire dust rounds at the bullhead, many landing what would be direct hits. However they were all blocked by the woman in the bullhead.

The mysterious new woman shot a fireball from her hand which was blocked by another purple glyph.

Suddenly all of them heard a high pitched shrieking noise, and looked down at see a terrifying black and gold mark on the ground beneath them.

They all quickly dodged before whatever it was exploded, with shards shards of concrete flying everywhere. The shards of concrete strewn across the roof started to glow purple, as the blonde woman used her semblance to send them in a spear shape at the bullhead.

The woman inside the bullhead shot fire at the spear shattering it, only for it to reform into its original shape.

The bullhead swerved in the sky to avoid getting speared. Thus causing the spear to bounce off the bullhead and split into three smaller spears which turned around to try and attack again.

Teresa made her appearance by landing on the roof after leaping to it from the nearby building. She ran up and pulled out Silver Jackal and started firing at the bullhead.

Suddenly a fiery shock wave destroyed the spears before they could hit. Then, another screech came. The blonde woman took Ruby and jumped out of the way. Teresa quickly grabbed Hunter and managed to get him out of the way of the blast. Shade however was caught in the blast. If Hunter was caught in the blast, his aura would have protected him, but Shade had not yet unlocked his.

"SHADE!" Hunter screamed in a panic.

When the smoke cleared however, just like Hunter when he was shot at by the thief, there Shade was, standing with a bright, fiery, royal blue glow surrounding his whole body.

Shade had unlocked his aura.

"Okay," Shade stated, admiring the blue glow surrounding him, "My turn."

Shade placed a fire dust crystal into the hilt of Brasa Azul and Blue flames erupted out of the blade. He then threw the sword at the bullhead's engines, puncturing its rotors, smoke quickly filling the sky.

The bullhead spun around for several seconds, before it crashed in the middle of the street.

"WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT!?" Hunter yelled.

Before he could get an answer, Shade jumped off the roof down to the street.

**[...]**

"What was that Roman?!" the shrouded woman asked vehemently.

"Hey, I'm not the one who wanted to pick a fight with a huntress!" Roman replied as he worked his way out of the crashed bullhead, "And besides, I wasn't exactly able to control the thing once that kid threw his sword!"

Before anything else could be said, a figure landed onto the street cracking the asphalt.

"And who is that?!" Roman exclaimed.

The figure turned out to be one of the ones they were fighting on the rooftops.

"His friends probably aren't far behind. Let's get out of here." the woman stated.

Roman and the woman retreated into an alleyway before the figure could get to them.

Shade started to look through the wreckage and found his sword, but nothing more.

**[...]**

Back on the rooftop, Hunter was a bit scared.

"You," the blonde woman pointed at Hunter, "You go get your friend back up here." The woman turned and faced Teresa and her eyes suddenly widened when she saw Teresa's silver eyes. "You two are coming with me." She said sternly. Ruby's eyes widened and Teresa game a small smile raising her hands in surrender.

"Fine…"

"Your terrifying," Hunter said simply, before climbing off the rooftop to look for Shade.

"Your a huntress?" Ruby asked.

The woman nodded her head.

"Can I have your autograph!?"

**[...]**

"Well this is great." Hunter said sarcastically.

Hunter, Ruby, Shade, and Teresa were all sitting at a rectangular table in the middle of a dark room with a door and one light.

"At least we're not in a big-city police station," Shade remarked.

"Really? Cause that's what it looked like from the outside." Hunter said sarcastically.

"I was talking about the ones in our world. This one isn't so bad." Shade said, "besides, at least we're not cuffed to the table. So what I'm thinking this may be more like a debrief than anything."

"You've been handcuffed before?" Ruby asked innocently.

"More than once. Whether it was a prank, or something else I won't say though." Hunter responded, with a slight glare at Shade.

Shade only rolled his eyes.

A man in a green suit and scarf, grey hair, glasses and a cane walked through the door soon after. And to Ruby's delight placed a plate of cookies on the table.

"Hunter Green, Shade Royal,..." the man paused when he looked at both Ruby and Teresa "Ruby Rose and miss Teresa." he eyed them a bit longer than he did with the two pilots, "You both have, Silver eyes."

Hunter and Shade wondered why Teresa's and Ruby's eyes intrigued him so much, but they didn't care enough to ask.

"May I ask what you four were doing hunting down wanted criminals using some of the most dangerous weapons ever designed?" the man asked.

"We saw someone who needed help and we helped. That's how we do things where we come from at least." Hunter answered.

"I was most curious as to where miss Rose got her scythe. I have only seen one other person able to wield a scythe with such skill, a dust old crow" he said.

"Mmf!" Ruby said before swallowing a cookie. "Sorry. That's my uncle Qrow, I was complete garbage before he took me under his wing at Signal, and now I'm all like, HWAAAA!" Ruby started to make fighting poses and noises.

"Smooth Ruby. Real smooth." Hunter remarked.

Teresa just chuckled at Ruby's actions.

"So what is a girl like you doing at a school designed to train warriors?" the man asked.

"I want to become a huntress! My sister and these two are going to Beacon," Ruby pointed at Hunter and Shade, "and when I'm old enough, I'm going to go to! I mean huntsman and huntresses are so cool! Teresa here has been teaching me how to become a better huntress when she and my sister have been going out and capturing live Grimm to fight in a new way I've never fought before. I've always wanted to help people so I thought you know, why not make a career out of it, besides they're all so cool you know?!"

_Note to self, never give Ruby cookies._ Shade thought to himself.

"Do you know who I am?" He asked.

"Your professor Ozpin, headmaster at Beacon." she answered.

Shade and Hunter's eyes widened slightly at this. This was the headmaster? They weren't shocked, but they were surprised.

"And you want to go to my school?" Ozpin asked.

"More than anything," she answered.

"Fine. Miss Rose can you wait outside in the hall till I'm done talking to these three?" Ozpin asked.

Ruby nodded and walked to the door.

"Also miss Rose, Welcome to Beacon." Ozpin said while giving a gentle smile.

Ruby's eyes completely lit up and she exited the room pumping her fist into the air. After she left the room Ozpin turned and faced the two pilots.

"You two." The tone of his voice grew odd, Shade couldn't place it, but he felt like he'd heard that tone somewhere else.

"I am very intrigued by you two," Ozpin said curiously.

"I wonder why…?" Hunter said, sarcasm dripping from his voice.

Ozpin only smiled, "From what I understand, you two were flying an experimental aircraft developed by the Atlas military, correct?"

"That's right." Shade said remembering the story he and Hunter had come up with.

"If you were going to come up with a lie, you should do more research." Ozpin said.

"What?!" Hunter asked.

How did he know they were lying?

"Atlas only accepts people into their military at the age of twenty-one." Ozpin stated.

Great. They were caught.

"Look, if we told you the truth, you'd think we were insane." Shade said.

"Believe it or not, Taiyang has already told me of your claims." Ozpin said.

"Wait, he told you?" Shade asked.

"Yes. But believe it or not, your story is not as insane as you might think," Ozpin said flatly, "that is the biggest reason I have decided to let you attend Beacon academy."

So… you're letting us into Beacon… because we are from a different universe?" Hunter asked.

"Correct." Ozpin answered, sipping from his coffee mug. "Can you two wait outside with young miss Rose while I talk to miss Teresa here."

Both pilots got up and left the room. As they left the blonde haired woman from the roof entered the room and stood near the wall behind Ozpin.

"Miss Rose said your name is Teresa?" Ozpin asked, "and no last name?"

"Last I checked, that is my name," Teresa said with a faint smile.

"Well miss Teresa, the person who brought you all here is Glynda Goodwitch." he said as he gestured to the woman behind him.

"Well met Ozpin, Goodwitch." Teresa nodded to them respectively. "Though I admit I have no idea why I am held here along with Ruby, Shade and Hunter."

"I suppose… however miss Rose and the two other gentlemen not only engaged the wanted criminal, Roman Torchwick, but endangered the surrounding area and themselves." Ozpin explained.

"Where do I get placed in this?" Teresa said as she tilted her head slightly.

"And there lies the problem… as you can see the lackeys of that man who fought miss Rose and her friends sustained injuries that can be healed, however those who you fought might not recover at all."

"I don't see that is my problem." Teresa stated, remembering the bandits she killed back when she rescued Clare from them. Glynda's eyes widened at that as she exclaimed. "How could you not care! Are you a huntress or not?" Ozpin's eyes narrowed, he had heard that the last silver eyed warriors were only five, now two, and so he said the same thing as he did to Ruby earlier.

"Now, Glynda," Ozpin said trying to calm his assistant down, "I suppose miss Teresa here has her reasons, but…"

Teresa raised an eyebrow, _what is he up too?_, she thought as Ozpin continued to talk.

"You have silver eyes…" so that thing again? She knew about their legends of the so called silver eyed warriors from what she was told when she met Emilia Rose in the void. Ancient warriors who fought the Grimm before even the kingdoms existed… considering that a Claymore's eyes are never naturally silver in the first place, that and she was tasked by Ruby's grandmother to protect the young red reaper, so she decided to play along.

"Why yes I do… is there anything special about having silver eyes?" Teresa asked as she eyed Ozpin with calculating eyes.

"Indeed they do but I am quite surprised that you don't know your own lineage miss Teresa."

"My lineage?" Teresa asked. Another memory flashed in her mind at that moment.

'_When you meet with Ozpin tell him…'_

"I'm sorry but I don't know what you mean… but what I do know is that the purple rose sends her regards." Teresa smiled faintly as both Ozpin and Glynda's eyes widened at the last part, then as fast it was Ozpin's eyes hardened as he leaned closer.

"How do you know her?" he demanded.

"We met in the plane where reality and fantasy as you can say… are at their borders."

"I see, then you are not…"

"Sadly no, I am not. Like Hunter and Shade, I am not from this world. But you can say I am or was a silver eyed warrior, I will tell you more, but I have a duty to protect Ruby at all costs" Teresa said.

"Oh? And why is that?" Ozpin inquired, strange as she is, he is quite intrigued by her personality, she herself said that she is not a silver eyed warrior but also said that she is one at the same time, so he decided.

"How about a compromise then miss Teresa?"

"Oh? What is this compromise?"

"You can continue your duty given to you by Emilia, if you work as teaching staff at Beacon academy."

"Hmm. I can say that's quite a proposition you gave me Ozpin, but what is the catch?"

"You can teach the students on how you fight and help them to become great huntsmen and huntresses."

"I see where this is going but I do have one last question."

"And what is this question?" Ozpin asked smiling.

"How can one unlock Aura?"

"Wait… you fought all those criminals without an Aura! Are you suicidal!" Glynda exclaimed.

"So you do know how to unlock an Aura in someone." Teresa mused "And to answer your miss Goodwitch, in truth I am not human."

"What do you mean not human?" Ozpin questioned. "I don't suppose you are a Faunus correct?"

"Not a Faunus either, I am a Claymore, a member… once a member of the organization, and that is their name nothing more nothing less." Teresa explained, "But I Will tell you more in due time, for now I will take Ruby, Shade and Hunter home. And I will see you both when Beacon's new school year starts, besides you got yourself a new teacher." With that Teresa stood and left the room to retrieve Ruby and the two pilots.

After Teresa left the room and found the teenagers. Ruby ran up to her full of excitement.

"Oh My Gosh! Teresa! I can't believe it! I'm going to Beacon two years early!" she squealed with joy.

Teresa chuckled at Ruby's antics. "Well I have some good news." she said facing the three teens. "Ozpin has offered me a job at Beacon and I have accepted it. I'll be starting when you first arrive at Beacon."

Ruby's eyes widened and she cheered the loudest she ever could. Then something from her memories that day poked the back of her mind.

"Teresa, I've been meaning to ask. There was a massive amount of that dark energy I felt coming near where you were fighting off those thugs for us. Did you kill it?" Ruby asked. With a bit of worry in her eyes.

Teresa put a hand on Ruby's shoulder and took in a bit of air into her lungs. "What I'm about to tell you all does not get mentioned to any one till I'm ready to tell everyone, okay?" Teresa said coldly.

"Teresa?"

"Ruby, that energy you sensed back on that road didn't come from a Grimm. It came from me."

Ruby's eyes widened in shock and she took a step back away from Teresa.

"Do not worry, I can control it and I never go anywhere near my limits. One of your ancestors had the same thing I have and that energy ran through her body as well."

"D… Does that mean I have that energy in my body as well?" Ruby asked with a bit of a whimper in her voice.

"No you don't. From what I had learned that the energy in her body was not passed down at all to her children and their descendants. There were only three things you have gained from that family line. The ability to sense that energy in Grimm, your silver eyes and your grandmother's claymore which belonged to her ancestor. Once you find that sword again it should belong to you." Teresa said trying to calm Ruby down.

Ruby nodded and turned her head to the pilots who just stood there smiling at Ruby. Ruby smiled back and ran to the entrance of the police station. "Come on guys! We have to tell Dad and Yang the good news!" She cheered.

Shade, Hunter, and Teresa soon followed after her back towards Patch.

**[...]**

Back in the room. Glynda looked at the headmaster a bit worried.

"Ozpin are you sure it was wise to accept her?" Glynda asked as Ozpin simply drank from his cup.

"Indeed Glynda, she might be able to help with out problem in the coming events, however I'm only worried what will James will do."

"When the time comes I hope you know what you are doing, but… when she spoke of the organization… she spoke with venom as she mentioned that name… But what is the organization?"

"I would like to find out about that and her origins also… but sooner or later I think she will hold no ill will to people like us or mostly Ruby. Besides do you remember what Tenga said about the legend of the Dragon Faunus. We will need to prepare for it and I have a feeling that all four of them will play major roles in it.

**[...]**

That same night in a warehouse, Roman Torchwick stood in front of the woman who grudgingly save his ass from that huntress and the group that was with her.

"It was a simple job, Roman, get the dust and leave." the woman said.

"Yeah it would have been if it weren't for that girl,that woman and their friends." Roman muttered.

"The Huntress and the kids doesn't matter, they can't change the plan."

"Right the plan, in which yo-" he was cut off as the woman conjured flames in the palm of her hand.

"You just listen Roman, nothing more nothing less."

"Riiight," Roman said sarcastically, maybe he shouldn't mention that the woman he meant was that scary blonde woman with the large sword… she was different… and that brought chills down his spine.

**[...]**

When Ruby returned home. She immediately told her father and Yang the good news and was quickly embraced in the infamous Ruby-Xiao-long sandwich.

After the big family hug Tai thanked Teresa and the two pilots for looking after Ruby.

Teresa turned to Yang. "Yang, I have a very important task for you to do tomorrow. Are you up for it?" she asked.

"I'm ready for anything you can throw at me." Yang said slamming her fists together and showing off a huge grin on her face.

"I will need you to capture ten Beowolves this time and bring them back to the training area. They will be used for Ruby's final test before she starts Beacon." Teresa said. She then turned to Tai. "Tai why don't you come along and see the results of your daughter's hard work."

Tai grinned "I think I shall."

**[...]**

The next day Teresa, Yang and Tai headed out early to capture a whole pack of Beowolves. After breakfast Ruby, Shade and Hunter walked over to the training grounds, where they saw Teresa putting chained collars around the necks of the captured Beowolves. There were ten regular ones and an alpha as well.

Both Tai and Yang were standing nearby with Tai looking extremely proud of his daughter and Yang had complete joy all over her face.

"Yang I can't believe you captured a whole pack of Beowolves including the Alpha with nothing but your hands." Tai said with pride oozing from his voice.

"How do you think I feel! This was the first time I had captured an alpha." Yang responded.

Teresa let out a loud cough to grab everyone's attention. They all saw that she was done setting everything up and was holding a red blindfold and some earmuffs.

"I thought I recognized this test. I remember your mom doing this back when we were in Beacon." Tai said as he examined the training area.

"Ruby will you please step forward?" Teresa called from the middle of the training area. Ruby ran over to Teresa. She handed Ruby the blindfold and the earmuffs. "Once these are on just nod when you are ready. Also you will need Crescent Rose for this final test. Your goal is to kill all of these Beowolves without using both your ears or eyes and only your sixth sense."

Ruby nodded and began to put on the Blindfold. Teresa walked over to the rest of the group holding her scroll. "I will ask that none of you interfere with this." Teresa deadpanned. Everyone just nodded.

All of the Beowolves began to wake up as Ruby finished covering her eyes. Ruby put on the earmuffs and her whole world became dark and silent. In the darkness she could sense the pack of Beowolves around her. She reached for Crescent Rose and unfolded it from its travel form into its scythe mode. Ruby waited a few moments. By then all Beowolves in the pack had woken up and were trying to attack Ruby. But the collars around their necks were chained to the ground.

Ruby felt like it was time and nodded.

Teresa pressed her thumb on her scroll activating a signal that reached one of the Beowolve's collars. The collar released and the Beowolf charged at Ruby. Ruby sidestepped the Beowolf and sliced the arm and head of the creature in a downward left to right motion. Another Beowolf was released and charged at her from behind. Ruby back flipped over the Beowolf and dug Crescent Rose's blade into the middle of its back and then bisected it down the middle.

Teresa released two more Beowolves and they tried to pounce at Ruby's head and legs. She did a mini jump and twisted her body around while using her semblance. Crescent Rose dug and sliced into the two Beowolves until they were completely cut to ribbons. Three more Beowolves were released and charged at Ruby. She slid under the first one's claws, hooking her weapon around the waist then slamming the creature into another freed one to her left side. Ruby dived under a pounce from the third Beowolf which managed to hit the other two downed creatures. She twirled Crescent Rose around her body and sliced at the Beowolves making them lose their limbs and heads.

Tai looked on in awe as his daughter took on the pack of Grimm. Teresa then released the Alpha and two other Beowolves. The two regular Beowolves tried to swipe their claws at the back of Ruby's head only for her to duck under the claws and cleave through the torso of both Grimm. At that moment the Alpha took its chance and tried to pounce on top of her. She rolled backwards and then plunged Crescent Rose's barrel into the back of its jaw. She fired and the back of the Alpha's head exploded.

Teresa pressed on her scroll one last time with a faint smile glowing on her face. The final Beowolf's collar released and it only took a step before Ruby transformed Crescent Rose into its rifle form. She only fired once and the round tore a large hole in the left shoulder, severing off the arm and making it fall on to its back. Ruby walked up to the dying Grimm and stuck the barrel of her weapon to the head of the creature. She fired her weapon one last time and the Beowolf's head exploded.

Ruby spun Crescent Rose once as it transformed into its travel form and put it in its holster. She grabbed the earmuffs and pulled them off her head. After she got the blindfold off her face she looked to her right side and saw her father standing right next to her. Tears were flowing down his face.

"Dad?" Ruby asked.

Tai said nothing. Instead he embraced Ruby in a warm hug. He held her there for a few moments before letting go and looking directly at his daughter's face. "You are growing up too fast, but your mom would be so proud of you right now." Tai cried.

"I know." Ruby said before looking at the rest of the group. Both Shade and Hunter had complete shocked looks on their faces. Yang wore the biggest smile on her face. Teresa stood there with her infamous faint smile on her face, clapping her hands.

"Well done Ruby!" Teresa announced as both Ruby and Tai walked back to the group. "You not only passed. You exceeded my expectations. You **are** ready for Beacon."

Yang, Hunter and Shade caught up with Teresa and said their own congratulations to Ruby.

"You know Ruby, If you and Yang ever make it to Earth you both should become Jaeger pilots." Hunter said.

"You really think I could?" Ruby asked with her eyes just glowing with excitement.

"Oh, definitely. After what you just showed us you have the talent." Shade answered.

"Come on everyone! Let's head back to the house and celebrate with a large dinner!" Tai announced.

"Me and Hunter here will help cook and clean up after dinner is over." Shade offered.

'Yea, you can count on us after everything you did for us." Hunter said in agreement.

With that everyone headed back towards the cabin for a night of celebration.

**[...]**

**A/N: wow I can't believe how much I had written and in such a short amount of time. I just checked how many views, follows and favorites this story has and to my surprise it's doing a lot better than I've ever expected. Thank you everyone who has supported this story so far. **

**Next chapter starts the journey for our heroes as they work their way through the school life at Beacon Academy and who will we meet along the way through season 1.**


	7. Welcome to Beacon

A few days later, everyone gathered at the front door of the Xiao Long residents. Shade and Hunter had packed everything that Tai and the sisters had gotten them and their Jaeger pilot armor was stored in a duffle bag that Tai had in storage. They were hoping that Beacon has the right tools to repair the armor. Even considering Ruby's collection, there were some tools they still needed for the more important repairs.

Ruby had all of her stuff that she needed packed away in a red and black duffle bag and suitcase. Yang had two full rolling suitcases filled to the brim with clothes and other necessities. Teresa had her small pack packed with some clothes that she had gotten and she was wearing her normal claymore uniform with the extra armor and her weapons.

All five of them grouped up to take a memoritive photo by Tai. Shade and Hunter stood next to the sisters with Teresa standing behind them. Both pilots struck a pose while Ruby and Yang just smiled. Teresa had her infamous faint smile on her face. Tai held up Ruby's scroll and took a picture. He then handed back Ruby her scroll. Ruby messed with it for a bit then sent everyone the picture with the words 'OFF TO BEACON!' at the bottom of the picture.

"Teresa, please take good care of them for me." Tai said with a few tears forming in his eyes.

"I will." she said as she began to follow the four teens to Patch's air docks.

**[...]**

The airship leaving for Beacon academy took off from Patch's air docks with the small group onboard.

"Ooooooh! I can't believe my little sister's going to Beacon with me!" Yang said as she held Ruby in a bone breaking hug.

"Please… Stop… Air… Help..." Ruby cried trying to free herself. Though Ruby felt more embarrassed than suffocating at that moment.

Teresa reached over and separated the two sisters. Ruby quietly thanking the gods for Teresa saving her from total embarrassment.

"Now, now, Yang. We can't have Ruby die from suffocation now, do we?" Teresa said.

"So… how exactly does this work?" Hunter asked while trying his best to hold back a laugh. "I mean, me and Shade can hold our own in a fight, but I'm not sure about a school for warriors."

"You're having second thoughts now? We are on a freaking airship heading to Beacon!" Shade exclaimed. "We have fought things thousands of times our own size, and you're worried about school?!"

"Hey, I'm not saying I'm worried, I just have no clue how this works." Hunter remarked.

"It's easy!" Yang stated "You two go in, get put on a team, and there you go!"

"And how many people are on a team?" Shade asked.

"Four!" Ruby remarked cheerfully.

"Well at least there's a chance we can get put on the same team." Shade said.

"I doubt it, I mean, four people that know each other? That's a stretch." Hunter replied.

Shade noticed a holographic screen nearby was playing the local news. "... Yet again the infamous Roman Torchwick continues to avoid capture…" a voice on the screen said.

"Hey, doesn't that look like the guy that was trying to rob that Dust shop the other day?" Hunter asked looking at the screen.

"In other news the Faunus civil rights protest turned dark last week, as members of the White Fang-" the screen was cut off.

A second later, the blonde woman from the other night appeared on the screen.

"Hello, and welcome to Beacon."

"Who's that?" Yang asked.

"I am Professor Glynda Goodwitch," professor Goodwitch said.

"Oh!" Yang said as her question was answered.

"You are among the privileged few to have been selected to attend this prestigious academy." Goodwitch continued. "Our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace, and as future huntsman and huntresses, its is our duty to uphold it. You have demonstrated the courage needed to uphold the task, and now it is our turn to provide you with the knowledge, and the training, to protect our world."

As she finished speaking, the screen faded and the nearby windows let in light to reveal the city below. Multiple future students of Beacon flooded towards the windows and gazed down upon the city.

"Wow!"

"Look!"

"I can see my house from here!"

Multiple people said as they looked out the windows.

"You'd think they'd never seen a view before," Shade deadpanned.

"You forget, you're used to seeing these kinds of things from a 290 foot tall steel giant. These people don't exactly have that luxury." Hunter remarked.

"True," Shade replied.

"Hey look! You can see Signal from up here!" Ruby cheered.

"Looks like Beacon's gonna be our home for awhile. Right guys?" Yang asked.

The two pilots nodded.

"I suppose…" Teresa said as she smiled at the sisters, then in a quick motion she grabbed Yang by the arm and pulled her away as a blonde boy emptied his stomach where Yang was just standing.

"Quick save there Teresa!" Hunter called.

**[...]**

A good thirty minutes later Teresa, Hunter, Shade, Ruby and Yang all started walking off the airship but they were pushed aside by the same guy. He ran out the door and started throwing up in a trash can that should have been on the inside instead of the outside for whatever reason.

"I guess air travel isn't for everyone." Hunter remarked.

They all continued towards the school and were all stuck in awe of the school, except for Teresa.

"Woaaaah," the sisters and the two pilots said in unison.

"That's big." Hunter said staring at the massive structure that was Beacon Academy.

"We're actually here!" Ruby shouted excitedly.

Seemingly out of nowhere, other students started walking all over the place. Ruby began practically drooling as she saw all the weapons that the other students held.

"Oooooh! Look sis! That kid has a collapsible staff! And she has a fire sword!" Ruby exclaimed with glee.

"Well I see your obsession with weapons isn't going anywhere" Shade said.

"Easy sis, why can't you go crazy over your own weapon?" Yang asked.

Ruby suddenly extended Crescent Rose into its scythe form.

"Weapons are an extension of ourselves, they're part of us! Right guys? Don't get me wrong, I love Crescent Rose, I just really like meeting new ones!" Ruby answered.

Teresa thought about what she had just said for a moment. It was true what Ruby had just said, her claymore was always her identity, considering it has her symbol of when she was a warrior of the organization.

"Correct Ruby, they are indeed part of ourselves, not only that, it shows who we are." Teresa replied as she unsheathed her claymore and began inspecting it. The emblem in the sword reminded her of her life with the sword.

Her own initiation…

Her rise to number one…

Killing the Yoma and meeting Clare for the first time…

Killing the bandits…

Now, she will use her sword to protect another innocent soul… looking back at Ruby while said girl was having a small discussion with her sister, sheathing her sword, yes… Ruby Rose is just like Clare in some ways more than one. Losing someone precious and still be cheerful, and most of all innocent and naive to the truth of the world, Clare knew it considering being used by those Yoma… she shook off her thoughts for a while.

"Why don't you, ya'know, try making friends?" Yang asked.

"Why would I need friends when I have you four?" Ruby asked.

"Ouch." Hunter remarked.

"Well…" suddenly Yang was surrounded by people "My friends are here now! Gotta go! Cya!"

And with that Yang and her 'friends' zoomed off leaving Ruby spinning.

"Wait! Don't we have to go to our dorms? Do we have dorms? Ooooh…" Ruby fell onto some luggage.

"Watch it you dolt!" a voice said.

Teresa, Shade and Hunter turned and saw the person who was yelling at Ruby. She wore a white 'combat skirt' as Ruby called it, high heels, and had long white hair.

"Hey, looks like you're not the only naturally white after all," Hunter told Shade.

They saw the girl in white continue to yell at Ruby.

"Let's get out of here. I'd rather not get involved." Shade said.

The two pilots picked a random direction and walked off. Later they heard an explosion and wondered what it was.

**[...]**

The girl in white continued yelling at Ruby while shaking a vial of fire dust at her. A very fine cloud of fire dust leaked from the vial and started to cover Ruby's face. In that moment Ruby sneezed and activated the dust causing an explosion. The vial the girl was holding flew out of her hand and Teresa caught it out of the air.

"Unbelievable! This is exactly what I was talking about!" the girl shrieked.

"Well now. That explosion was partially your fault as well." Teresa said interrupting the girl. "You really shouldn't shake dust in front of people's faces." Teresa held up the vial of dust to the girl.

The girl was just fuming in rage. "Why I never! Just who do you think you are?" She snapped at Teresa.

"I am Teresa and also your future instructor." Teresa said handing the vial of dust back to the girl.

The girl just stood there in shock for a few moments before years of proper etiquette took over.

"S… Sorry. Where are my manners. Weiss Schnee, Heiress to the Schnee Dust Company." Weiss said introducing herself. Although she did feel extremely embarrassed for snapping at a teacher before the school year began.

Teresa simply nodded. "If you two don't mind, I have to go talk to Professor Ozpin before the entrance ceremony." She said giving off a smile that Weiss swore her soul came from a caring mother or that of a goddess. Teresa gave the area a quick look over before heading towards the center of Beacon.

**[...]**

Golden eyes looked on warily as Teresa left the two girls. A young woman with long black hair, black and white clothes and a black bow on her head, let her breath go. She didn't know she could hold it in that long like that. Multiple things ran through her head as the woman hid from view. _That… woman somehow… she doesn't smell like a human does, nor did she smell like a faunus either… what was she? Why did she have that sword, especially that sword? _The young woman thought.

She felt like she needed to be careful around her, and better yet try and find ways to know her try identity. With that the young woman made her own way to the auditorium.

**[...]**

After awhile of wandering around the campus. The two pilots began to head towards the auditorium.

"I wonder who we're gonna meet," Hunter wondered out loud.

"Lets just hope the teachers aren't as stuck up as the Marshall back home." Shade remarked as they walked underneath some kind of archway.

"Heh, you can say that again," Hunter said, "I never thought someone with his experience in the military would be so…"

"Up tight?" a voice finished his sentence for him.

Both Shade and Hunter turned around to see a girl, most likely another first year student, leaning against a tree.

She wore brown pants and had what looked to be a brown jacket with the sleeves cut off just below the elbows as well as a tan baseball cap, underneath that she wore a tan T-shirt. She had long, light brown hair with bright green eyes. She also had what looked to be a metal gauntlet-glove on her right hand.

"The names Petra, what's yours?" Petra asked.

"I'm Hunter and this is my partner, Shade," Hunter answered "and how much of our conversation did you hear?"

"Enough to know that you two know someone in the Atlas military," She answered.

"Well, you're half right," Shade responded "but we don't like to go into details."

"Say no more! So, you're going to be staying here a Beacon?" she asked.

"Yep! Finally managed to squirm our way in here." Hunter answered.

"Well I'll say good luck, my older sister is a third year student here, so I at least have someone to talk to if my team weighs me down." She remarked.

"Well I guess we'll be seeing you," Hunter said. "Good luck!"

"Good luck to yourself!" she answered before walking off.

**[...]**

After a bit Shade and Hunter finally managed to find their way to the school auditorium where the headmaster was supposed to give a speech.

"Hey! Shade! Hunter!" the two heard a voice call out. Turning to the source of the voice, they spotted Yang waving at them, "I saved you guys a spot!"

"Thanks Yang," Hunter said walking over.

"Hey, where's Ruby and Teresa?" Shade asked scanning the crowd "I don't see them."

"I saw Teresa follow professor Goodwitch backstage a while ago. As for Ruby, she's probably making her way here… oh there she is!" Yang said as she spotted Ruby enter the auditorium.

"Ruby! Over here!"

Ruby quickly said goodbye to the person she was talking to before heading over to the three.

"Guys! You left me!" She scolded.

"Sorry," they all apologized.

"I almost exploded back there!" Ruby complained.

"Oh, I'm sure you would've been fine." Yang said.

"What exactly happened?" Hunter asked.

"Well, Yang left, then I tripped over this girl's luggage, then there was some dust, and I sneezed, there was fire and think some ice?" Ruby continued her explanation, but Hunter stopped paying attention when he spotted Weiss, walking up behind Ruby.

"You!" Weiss shouted when she reached Ruby.

"GAH! It's happening again!" Ruby cried as she jumped into Yang's arms.

"You almost got us blown off a cliff!"

Yang quickly did a double take, "Oh my Oum, you actually exploded."

"I said I was sorry Okay!" Ruby complained.

"You want to make this up to me?" Weiss asked.

"Absolutely!"

Weiss held up a pamphlet titled, 'Dust for dummies, and other unintelligent people'.

"The Schnee dust company is not responsibleforanydamages-" Weiss started talking very fast, so fast that Ruby, Hunter, Shade, or Yang couldn't really understand what she was saying.

"Uh-" Ruby started.

"Read this, and don't ever speak to me again."

Hunter and Shade simply stared as Weiss walked away.

"And who is she?" Hunter asked turning to the two siblings.

"Weiss Schnee, heiress to some big dust manufacturer or something." Ruby said.

"Really? You'd think she'd be a bit more polite." Shade said.

"Oh! Look there's Teresa and professor Goodwitch!" Yang announced.

Professor Ozpin stepped forward onto the stage, with professor Goodwitch and Teresa, gone was her armor, replaced with a silver work dress with see through sleeves that had a silver trimming dancing over the arms and shoulders. Both Teresa and professor Goodwitch stood behind the headmaster as he began his speech.

"I'll… keep this brief. You have traveled here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and acquire new skills, and when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step."

After his speech, Ozpin surveyed the gathered students as he continued on, "And also I would like to welcome you all to professor Teresa Silver, she will be assisting professor Glynda Goodwitch in your combat classes." Ozpin stepped back allowing Teresa to introduce herself. She gave a slight bow and addressed the students with a short "I am professor Teresa Silver and I am honored to teach you all what I know", then she took a step back as professor Goodwitch Stepped up to the mic to give the new students their next instructions.

"You will gather in the ballroom tonight; tomorrow, your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed."

After that, Teresa, Glynda, and Ozpin walked off the stage and headed to the headmaster's office for a private meeting between the three.

**[...]**

Teresa sat down in front of professor Ozpin's desk with said professor sitting in his seat facing her. Professor Goodwitch was also standing off to the side a bit behind Ozpin. Ozpin questioned Teresa about herself, which she mostly answered, some things though she kept to herself.

"So let me get this straight, you died and were brought here?" Ozpin asked.

"Correct, I have no idea why I was given this second chance at life but I was tasked with a mission to protect Ruby and teach her to fully learn a hidden talent passed on to her from one of her ancestors, by her late grandmother and said ancestor," Teresa replied.

"I see, so Emilia brought you here to protect miss Rose from harm and I guess there is something else in return?

"As I said earlier, I was sent here to guard Ruby. And yes, the one who sent me here promised me in return they would reunite me with someone I deeply care about."

"Oh? And who would this person be?" Ozpin inquired, someone with such ability could either help or hinder their cause and Teresa might have an idea on this person's motives.

"He is known as Rabona, he is the chief god of the holy city that bears his name, where I'm from." Teresa said surprising both Ozpin and Glynda.

"I see…" well that went… well, he supposed whomever Rabona is he is a wildcard, but back to matters at hand. "In the police station you mentioned that you are both a silver-eyed warrior and not as one to clarify?" Ozpin asked.

"I suppose as I have said the last time, I am a silver-eyed warrior but my eyes are not silver in nature, the topic is sensitive and I will tell you when I feel it is time. But for now I will tell you that where I am from, we do not have Grimm, but monsters called Yoma." Teresa explained.

"Yoma?" professor Goodwitch asked.

"Imagine a Human or a… Faunus look-a-like but inside they are monsters that feast on the flesh of a living person and not animals of course."

"That is disturbing information, Teresa." Ozpin said clearly troubled at the information. "Disturbing indeed, such creatures could instill panic and fear in the populace bringing in Grimm to the border. How do you know if one is a Yoma?"

"Either you sense their Yoki, or accidentally cut them, revealing their purple blood. The first is achieved by me and other Claymores which is the race of beings that fight these creatures. We were given that name after the swords that we all carry throughout our lifetime. Also when I first met Ruby in the woods near her home. She was facing a large pack of Beowolves, and I sensed Yoki emitting from them." Teresa explained.

"You are saying that the Grimm gives off Yoki or some kind?" professor Goodwitch asked.

"I am not entirely sure as all I have seen is Beowolves and an Ursa. Why is it strange, you said that all living things have an Aura?"

"Yes all living things except the Grimm, unless you count this Yoki, but what is Yoki?" Glynda asked.

"Yoki is like energy given off by a Yoma, in other words, akin to an Aura to you. That is why it is strange for Grimm, as you all say do not posses a soul, yet I can sense them…" Teresa explained.

"Can you teach this ability to the students?" Ozpin asked clearly interested.

"Only if they have the talent I can teach them, but I've theorized that only those with silver eyes can sense Yoki. The reason for this, I believe, is because either they are a Claymore or a descendant of one, which I have found out that Ruby is one. Her grandmother carried a Claymore's claymore, but it was lost with her death. If I could see the emblem on it I could tell who exactly who their ancestor is. So far I only have a name, but there have been a few Claymores with that name over the years." Teresa explained in detail.

"Okay and final question, do you possess an Aura?" Ozpin asked.

"No I do not, but I am intrigued by it." Teresa said further surprising the two professors.

"You mean to say you do not have an Aura?" Glynda exclaimed in surprise.

"No, I do not. But I have seen Hunter Green and Shade Royal unlock theirs, and they are from a different world than mine. Would you two know how to release one's Aura?" Teresa asked.

"We have a technique for it, and I suppose we could try to release yours." Ozpin said.

"Then shall we begin?"

**[...]**

Shade and Hunter were sitting in the corner of the ballroom on their own sleeping bags. Shade was reading a history book, while Hunter looked like he was playing games on his scroll.

Professor Goodwitch said that the initiation would start tomorrow, but neither of them knew what to expect. But their wondrous silence would not last long.

"Hello, gentlemen!" they heard Petra's voice call out.

Hunter paused his game and Shade looked up from his book.

"Hey Petra," Hunter greeted "whatcha up to?"

"Well," Petra turned around and grabbed at what the pilots thought was air, until the colors of whatever she grabbed seemed to morph until the colors formed a person.

"Meet Rona Ebony! Antisocial loudmouth of Vale." she introduced her friend.

"Please, just call me Rona." Rona said in a timid voice.

Rona wore modest black pajamas with purple stripes. She also had short black wavy hair and brown eyes.

"Hi," Shade said. Not being a very social person himself he knew what Rona must be feeling like in a place filled with as many people as there were. Shade had learned to just ignore most of the people around him when he first started living in the Shatterdomes around the Pan Pacific. He was rarely ever alone anywhere, and the majority of the time he was around a hundred plus people.

"I'm Shade," He introduced himself "And this is my partner, Hunter."

"Yo." Hunter said mildly, not really into the conversation.

"So… what are you two up to tonight?" Petra asked.

"I was just reading a book, and Hunter was… well, being Hunter." Shade gestured to Hunter, who was again playing a game on his scroll, "Anyway, what are you two up to?"

"I was actually wondering if you guys had plans for what teams you wanted to be on." Petra asked.

"Well, we've got a couple of people here we might team up with, but other than that we're pretty clear." Shade explained.

Petra nodded, "Ok, ok, think being on a team with me or Rona would be ok?" She asked.

"I don't see why not, but fair warning, we've got two people already after us" Shade said.

"Fair enough." petra stated "Well, I guess we'll see you tomorrow then!"

"See ya!"

They heard someone yell, and the lights went out.

**[...]**

After unlocking her Aura, Teresa slept in her own teachers room that Ozpin had provided for the staff at Beacon. As she slept, she had a vision of Clare, not the young girl she knew. No… this Clare was different.

"Clare?" Teresa asked as she neared the girl. Her eyes were closed and Teresa noticed the blonde color of Clare's hair and feared the worst, "No…"

"Do not worry Teresa I… I will avenge you… I swear I will kill Priscilla!" with that statement Clare opened her eyes, Teresa gasped as she saw not the innocent hazel eyes of her charge but… silver, like hers…

Teresa jolted awake at her dream… her death must have affected Clare so much… it nearly broke her heart at knowing that she had become a Claymore… but how? How did Clare do it? Teresa felt as if she was part of Clare, "Don't Tell me…" Teresa whispered but the pieces were coming together. "She did… didn't she?" she asked herself.

It's because Clare didn't use a Yoma's flesh to become a Claymore, she used something else… Something that the Organization would experiment on, Clare used had used Teresa's own flesh and blood to make herself into a Claymore.

"Oh… Clare…" Teresa said as she tried to go back to sleep, sobbing softly at this revelation.

**[...]**

**A/N: well sorry about that delay I wanted to get this chapter out earlier but I had a few real life distractions. Also I was not happy with how many times I had to rewrite this chapter but I think I did ok.**

**Side note my 25th birthday is happening tomorrow and I plan on getting a few things for this story. So look forward to some future artwork.**


	8. Initiation

**A/N: Sorry for the long wait. I've been distracted lately a bit but here is the new chapter. I hope you all enjoy it. Longer chapter this time as well**

**Also warning multiple viewpoints in this chapter.**

**[...]**

Morning had arrived and everyone that had gathered in the ballroom went to eat some breakfast, which shocked Shade and Hunter on the vast amount of food and food choices. Back when they were on earth, food was limited due to the Human-Kaiju war. Even though there was plenty of food provided in the Shatterdomes, the food choices were very limited.

Shade and Hunter grabbed their breakfast and sat down next to an orange haired girl and a dark haired man with a purple streak in his hair.

"So, have any idea what's going to happen during this initiation?" Hunter asked Shade as he began eating a few tater tots. He noticed that the food had none of the grease or oil that he had grown accustomed to when eating that type of food. Instead it had the airyness of a homemade baked potato and the crispness of fried frenchfries.

"Oh wow. The chiefs here are a lot better than back home." Hunter said before taking a bite out of some cinnamon toast.

Shade simply nodded his head in agreement as he bit into a cheese covered bagel with a mini omelet in the center with cream cheese. After he finished chewing his food, Shade turned to Hunter.

"From what Tai has told me, we are going to be fighting some Grimm. But he never explained what else there is cause it he said that it changes from year to year." Shade explained. "Also you just lost your pancakes."

"Wait what?!" Hunter exclaimed as he looked back at his plate and saw that his five pancakes were indeed gone. "What the heck!"

Hunter looked around to see where is pancakes disappeared to and saw the girl next to him literally slurp up Hunter's last pancake in her mouth.

"Nora, what did I tell you about taking other people's food." The man sitting next to the girl said.

"Sorry Ren!" The girl, now known as Nora, said with an apparent bubbly personality.

Hunter just stared at the two with a shocked look on his face and Shade just laughed.

**[...]**

After breakfast everyone headed to the armory to prepare themselves for their initiation. Ruby and Yang stood in front of their 'Rocket lockers', as what the quartermaster Ash told them. Gathering their weapons from the lockers, they gave them a quick look over to see if there was anything wrong with them.

"So Yang, Do you think we would be partnered together or with one of the guys?" Ruby asked her sister.

"Maybe, but I think you should consider other people as well as being more open to new people and it should help you grow up." Yang said looking at the amount of people in the armory gathering their weapons. She spotted the two pilots quickly cleaning the blades of their weapons and Weiss talking to another girl with long red hair.

"Yang!" Ruby whined then composed herself and continued, "Okay, I will make it clear that one: what does meeting new people have to do with fighting? And two: I drink milk." Ruby finished as she crossed her arms.

Yang just shook her head at her sister's antics. "How about joining someone else's team?" she suggested.

Ruby gave a gasp as she said in a mock hurt voice, "Oh, my dear sister does that mean you don't wish to be on the same team as me?"

Realizing that she may have misunderstood, Yang tried justifying herself. "What? No! Of course I do! I just thought… I don't know, maybe it would help you… break out of your shell!"

"My 'Shell'?" Ruby asked, "That sounds-"

"Ridiculous!" the blonde guy that threw up on the airship the day before said as he walked passed the two sisters. He was looking down at a piece of paper telling him where his weapons were. "There's no way I put my gear in locker 636 yesterday! I would've remembered having to count that high! Why does this have to happen today?" he moaned.

The guy walked passed Weiss and the red haired girl as they continued a conversation.

"So Pyrrha, I was hoping you could team up with me." Weiss said to the red haired girl.

"Actually, I was hoping to see where the chips fall." Pyrrha said. "But your idea sounds grand."

Weiss turned around and started mumbling to herself but no one could hear what she was saying.

"You know what else is great?" the blonde haired guy said as he approached the two women. "Me, Jaune Arc. Nice to meet you two."

"Nice to meet you as well, Jaune!" Pyrrha said.

It was apparently clear he was trying to flirt with the two. After a while, Weiss was getting annoyed with Jaune's flirting and rudely interrupted him when his attention was focused on Pyrrha.

"Jaune, Do you have any idea who you are talking to?" Weiss asked.

Pyrrha's mood dropped slightly as she thought her celebrity status was why Jaune was flirting with her.

"Not in the slightest, snow angel." Jaune said still flirting with Weiss.

Pyrrha's eyes widened when Jaune said that. He didn't know who she was and that brought high hopes Pyrrha had for the guy.

"This is Pyrrha Nikos" Wiess said introducing Pyrrha.

"Hello again!" Pyrrha said as she gave a small wave.

"Pyrrha here graduated top of her class at Sanctum." Weiss explained.

"Never heard of it." Jaune simply said.

"She's won the Mistral Regional Tournament four years in a row. A new record." Weiss said with a disappointed glare at Jaune.

"The what?" Jaune asked.

_He's definitely someone I want to be partnered with. _Pyrrha thought as the conversation continued.

"She's on the front of every Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes box!" Weiss exclaimed while waving her arms around in clear frustration.

"That's you?" Jaune asked Pyrrha. "They only do that for star athletes and cartoon characters!"

"Yeah, it was pretty cool." Pyrrha said. "Sadly, the cereal isn't very good for you."

"So, after hearing all of this, do you really think you're in a position to ask her to be on your team?" Weiss asked still giving Jaune a very disapproving glare.

"Truthfully, I don't care. As long as they are nice people, I'm willing to ask." Jaune said boldly.

_He's the one! _Pyrrha practically screamed in her mind. "Well Jaune, I think you'd make a great team leader."

"Really?" Jaune asked.

"Seriously, please stop it." Weiss told the two. "This kind of behavior should not be encouraged!"

"Sounds like Pyrrha's on board for team Jaune. Spots are filling up quick." Jaune teased as he got a bit too close to Weiss.

"Alright, that's a bit too close! Pyrrha, a little help please!?" Weiss asked.

Jaune turned to Pyrrha only for her to throw her spear at him. Jaune let out a yelp as the weapon stuck his hoodie and dragged him a few feet, pinning him to a wall.

"I'm Sorry!" Pyrrha called out.

"_Would all First year students please report to Beacon Cliff for initiation._" Professor Goodwitch announced over the school's speakers.

"It was nice meeting you Jaune." Pyrrha said as she retrieved her weapon from Jaune.

"Likewise." Jaune sighed.

Yang, Shade, Ruby and Hunter walked over to Jaune to help the poor guy up.

"Havin' some trouble there, ladykiller?" Yang asked teasing Jaune a bit.

"I don't understand… My dad said all women look for is confidence. Where did I go wrong?" Jaune asked as he moped.

"'Snow Angel' probably wasn't the best start." Yang said.

"You did manage to impress Pyrrha though." Hunter Told Jaune. "Though, I would stay away from Ice Queen."

Everyone let out a small giggle at Weiss's new nickname.

"Come on, Jaune. Let's go." Ruby said as she carried Jaune out of the armory.

**[...]**

Everyone gathered at the cliff where the initiation would begin. Shade and Hunter were both wearing their new combat outfits.

Shade wore a black vest over a blue T-shirt, black fingerless gloves, blue jeans and tennis shoes. The vest Shade was wearing carried the dust crystals he needed for Brasa Azul as well as a few extra clips for his gun.

Hunter wore a green camouflage jacket over a black T-shirt, army green pants and black combat boots. Hunter had a military combat knife hidden in his right boot due to stories his grandfather told him about Vietnam. He also carried extra shotgun shells on a hidden carry belt around his sides and above his weapon's holsters.

_Easy, take it easy, just have to end up on the same team as Hunter, Ruby or Yang and I'm good _Shade thought.

Ozpin, Glynda and Teresa began to give them a rehearsed speech that was given every initiation. Both Ozpin and Glynda helped Teresa learn her part of the speech before breakfast.

"For years, you have trained to become warriors, and today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."

'A little assuring' Teresa said to herself, remembering her own initiation back when she was still a 'loyal' warrior and receiving her emblem that marked her as an official Claymore. However, she was still a bit troubled by her dream, or she would say nightmare last night. Clare… a Claymore? No, not possible, but the facts say they are real, those eyes shone silver with the same light as the little girl she traveled with, even considering that her death must have impacted Clare to the very core. Teresa stopped her musings and turned her attention back to the speech even though her heart ached.

"Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of 'Teams.' Well, allow us to put an end to you confusion. Each of you will be given teammates… Today." Professor Goddwitch said as part of her speech.

"What!" Ruby cried out, Teresa smiled at her antics. _At least they will be fighting Grimm and not each other and a Yoma. _Teresa thought to herself. She stepped forward to give her part of the speech.

"These partners will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon and with that said the first person you make eye contact will be your partner." Teresa finished, as she looked at a flabbergasted Ruby whose mouth hung open in horror. Teresa waved and smiled to reassure the girl everything would be fine, which also affected most of the students as well, calming their nervousness.

"And finally, after partnering up. You will make your way north and find a temple and retrieve the relics found there." Ozpin finished. He then turned his attention to Yang.

"Miss Xiao Long, Professor Silver here has informed us that you have learned how to capture live Grimm. We ask you that you demonstrate these skills and do not worry about carrying around the Grimm our staff will insure that it will be secured for future lessons. Also, doing so will give you some extra credit for one of your classes."

"I will do my best!" Yang said as she slammed her fists together.

Hunter and Shade gave Yang a quick thumbs up before turning their attention to each other.

"Now any questions? No? Good, now take positions." Ozpin announced as many students posed themselves. "Good luck students!"

With that the first person was launched.

"Five lien says we wind each other and make eye contact," Shade told his partner.

"You?! Making a bet?! I am so in! Ten says we find others." Hunter replied.

"Cheater." Shade deadpanned.

All Hunter had to do was look at the first person he saw in the eye and he won the bet.

Another person was launched.

Shade heard one of the other students trying to ask a question, but he was distracted as Hunter was launched into the air.

He prepared for the launch, but that and try to land safely was all he could do. At that moment Shade was launched into the air.

Yang quickly placed some aviator glasses on then she was launched.

_I would say seven out of ten, if my guess is right she's trying to break Qrow's record. _Ozpin thought. A few moments later Ruby was launched.

Jaune was launched next while screaming in surprise and horror.

Ozpin Smiled as Glynda frowned at the headmaster's antics. Things will be interesting this year.

**[...]**

"So Teresa, what do you think of this?" Ozpin asked.

"I would say this may be tame for what I went through." Teresa stated as she watched Ruby accidentally hit a baby Nevermore mid flight. The three of them swore on their souls that they heard someone yell out 'Birdy No!'

"Oh? You have the same initiation like this?" Ozpin questioned Teresa further.

"No. Quite different really, we are separated into two groups and we must hunt each other down, but there is a catch."

"A catch? And why separate you into two groups?" Goodwitch intoned.

"The catch is that an ancient Yoma or worse a voracious eater is placed in the testing grounds. As to why we are separated into two groups is to judge our power and ranked them but only ten are eligible to pass in each generation and there is a total of 47 of us at a time."

Why would they do such a thing?!" Goodwitch asked.

Another story for another time perhaps." Teresa responded.

"Very well, I believe we should enjoy the initiation." Ozpin said simply.

"Indeed we should."

**[...]**

Shade was soaring through the air, he'd never felt something quite like this.

The forest below him flew by at an immense rate, he looked around and saw that many of the students were already making their way down into the forest.

Before he got below the tree line, he drew Brasa Azul and got into a drop position.

Once he reached the trees, he stabbed one of the trees with his sword stopping him instantaneously and jerking his body violently. Normally, the sudden stop would have dislocated his arm had it not been for his aura.

He slid down the tree picking a direction where he guessed was the center of the forest, hoping he could find someone he knew to be his teammate.

**[...]**

Hunter was ecstatic, being launched through the air felt very different from being dropped into position in a Jaeger.

He noticed Yang to his side and she started firing Ember Celica to launch herself deeper into the forest. Following Yang's example, Hunter fired Twin Leaves using the gravity dust ammunition they he had in his weapons. Yang noticed this and they both had an improvised race over the tree line. After all of the shells in Hunter's weapons were spent, he entered the tree line. Transforming his weapons into their scythe mode, he caught the trunk of a tree with the blades and began spiraling down said tree.

"Nice!" He congratulated himself as he got to the ground, "Now, where do I go now?"

**[...]**

Yang had continued further into the forest before she attempted to land. When she got to the tree line she jumped from tree trunk to tree trunk until the neared the ground. Once she reached the ground she did a quick roll to lose momentum.

"Nailed it! She called out to no one once she got up and continued running without missing a beat.

**[...]**

Ruby landed on the forest floor safely, now she was running with a single thing on her mind.

_Gotta find Yang, Gotta find Yang. _"Yaaaang!" she called out as she sped through the forest.

_C'mon Ruby, you made some friends, who else besides Yang? _Ruby thought to herself as a few images appeared in her head. _Well there's Jaune, but he doesn't scream fighter. _An imaginary Jaune appeared in her head surrounded by cartoonish Grimm. _There's Pyrrha, she's nice and all but she's better off with Jaune_. Pyrrha replaced Jaune as she fought off the Grimm. _Shade? Hunter? They're better paired up with each other. _Shade and Hunter replaced Pyrrha, Quickly high fiving each other and then fought the cartoonish Grimm. _Who else!? Jaune, Pyrrha, Shade, Hunter and… _then Ruby ran into a clearing and met someone with blue eyes and white hair. "Weiss!"

"Ruby!" Weiss exclaimed, "Don't do that!"

"Guess we're partners then," Ruby said happily.

Weiss quickly looked around to see if there was anyone else around and sighed in defeat. "Looks like it. We should head towards our next objective." Weiss said pointing to a path that headed in the wrong direction.

"Umm. I'm not not sure that's the right way. I think we should go that way." Ruby said pointing towards the center of the forest.

Just before they walked off in any direction, they heard a voice calling out for help with a few grunts here and there.

"C'mon I think someone needs some help!"

"Ugh, fine. The more the merrier, I guess." Weiss said as she followed Ruby towards the voice.

"C'mon, you stupid thing!" the voice, clearly male, said very aggravated.

"Why does that voice sound familiar?" Weiss asked.

Both girls looked up into a tree and saw Jaune hanging from a tree with a very familiar spear pinning his hoodie to the tree.

"Jaune!?" Ruby yelled up in surprise.

"Uhh… hey guys… how's it 'hanging'?" he joked, clearly embarrassed, which the two girls laughed at, causing a certain long blonde haired girl to sneeze.

"Jaune?" another voice called out as the person approached. "You all right?"

"Pyrrha!" Jaune exclaimed. "Thanks by the way,"

She simply smiled at the guy. "So how's the view from up there?" She asked teasingly.

"HaHa, very funny." Jaune said crossing his arms, but he did give Pyrrha a warm smile. "Seriously though, can you get me down from here?"

"Sure." she said as she climbed up to the tree branch that was right next to Jaune. She pulled her weapon out, causing him to fall.

"Jaune! I'm sorry!" she cried.

"It's fine. Oww, just got a small cut, that's all." Jaune said wincing at the cut on his face.

All three girls noticed that the small cut wasn't healing. "Jaune? Why isn't your Aura healing you?" Pyrrha asked a bit concerned.

"Aura?"

"You don't know what an Aura is?!" Weiss exclaimed.

"What?! Yeah of course I know what an Aura is." Jaune said though it was clear he had no clue.

"Which means you don't." Weiss deadpanned causing a snicker out of Ruby.

"Oh, who am I kidding?" Jaune said dejectedly, "I don't know what an Aura is. Heck, I haven't even unlocked it!"

"Don't be like that, Jaune. I mean look at Teresa. When me and my sister first met her, she had no Aura and she taught Yang how to capture Grimm alive. She even demonstrated with an Ursa." Ruby exclaimed.

"What? Really?"

"Yea she's awesome. Also you have Pyrrha to help you so it's a win-win. Right?"

Pyrrha smiled at Ruby's enthusiasm. "I would like to help you, that's what partners are for." She said walking over to Jaune. "Also I think I can help you with something right now."

"Oh?"

She stopped right in front of Jaune. "Now, I want you to close your eyes and concentrate." Pyrrha told him as she put her left hand on the side of his head and her right hand on his chest.

Jaune nodded and then closed his eyes. Pyrrha closed her eyes as well and suddenly opened then again wide as her Aura flared then her eyes closed again.

"_For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all. Infinite in distance and unbound by death, I release your soul, and by my shoulder protect thee._" Pyrrha recited as she unlocked Jaune's Aura. His new white Aura flared around his body as she stepped back for a moment. Pyrrha felt exhausted for a moment before recovering.

"Pyrrha?" Jaune asked a tiny bit worried about his partner.

"It's alright, I used some of my aura to unlock yours, but the energy that protects you now is your own." She said as she watched the cut on Jaune's face heal instantly. "You have a lot of it."

He gave Pyrrha a quick hug, which she gladly returned.

"Thank you." he whispered into her ear. Then they both separated and turned to both Ruby and Weiss.

"So, where do we go now?" Jaune asked looking around.

"I think the temple is that way." Ruby suggested as she pointed in a certain direction. Weiss just sighed in defeat.

"Umm sure." Pyrrha said also unsure of the direction.

Ruby began to lead the small group through the forest and after a while they stumbled across a clearing with a cave in the side of a cliff.

"Hey guys? Do you think the relic's in that cave?" Jaune asked pointing towards the cave.

"Uhh, I don't think we should go in there." Ruby said as her new sixth sense detected something extremely dangerous. Everyone stared at her looking for some answers. "I mean it can't be in a cave, right? Also there's something extremely dangerous inside that cave. Something dark."

"Something dark? Like Grimm?" Pyrrha asked.

"Yeah, something like that but different, I can tell it may even be more dangerous than Grimm. Teresa taught me for three months before the school year started how to sense stuff around myself like how she does. But I'm still getting the hang of it anyway." Ruby said staring at the cave.

"She taught you how to detect Grimm?" Weiss asked.

"Yeah, like how their own version of Aura can be felt." Ruby explained.

"I see." Weiss said not sounding convinced.

"But Grimm with Aura? T-that's impossible!" Pyrrha exclaimed.

"No not that Aura," Ruby said. "It's more like stinky smell but instead of smelling it you can sense it and it doesn't come from the outside of a Grimm but more like from inside it and as energy. Also that energy is just feels unnatural."

"Look out below!" A voice called out from above them.

The small group looked up and saw two people falling down the cliff followed by three Beowolves.

**[...]**

A few minutes ago.

Shade wondered around the forest for a little while, until he ran into a pack of Beowolves.

There were six regular ones and an alpha. He had studied the Grimm in his spare time after his and Hunter's training session with Teresa knowing that there was an extreme chance that he would have to fight many different kinds of Grimm while staying on Remnant.

"Well this should be fun," he muttered.

"I know right?!" a voice said behind him.

Not thinking Shade turned around to see Petra staring at him.

"Drat." he deadpanned.

Hunter, he could deal with. Ruby or Yang were preferable options for teammates, but he hardly knew Petra at all.

"Well I guess we're teammates then!" Petra said cheerfully.

The alpha suddenly roared at them and three of the Beowolves charged them.

Reacting fast Shade pulled out his pistol and shot at one of the Beowolves. One of the bullets managed to pierce the faceplate, killing the Grimm and causing it to slump to the ground.

The second closed in on Shade has he drew Brasa Azul and drove the point into the Grimm's skull, killing it.

The third Beowolf was shot by something. Shade turned to look at Petra to see that the metal on the glove she was wearing had shifted revealing a gun barrel on her forearm.

"Your welcome," she said with a smirk.

The remaining Beowolves charged, the three smaller ones went after Petra while the alpha charged at Shade.

He quickly dodged the alpha before turning around and swinging his sword at its leg. The sword only bounced off with a 'clang' as the metal alloy collided with bone armor.

Petra was having an easier time as the Grimm she was fighting only had masks.

The first fell to her arm-gun, the second managed to dodge the bullet and swing a claw at her. She was not amused.

The third pounced at her but she quickly leapt backwards to avoid it.

Petra pressed a few buttons on her gauntlet before the Beowolf that swiped at her jumped at her. But before it landed, her arm-gun transformed into an arm-sword. She reached out and skewered the Beowolf right through the back of its mouth.

Shade however was not so lucky, the alpha had managed to get several hits onto him before he managed to get underneath it and stab Brasa Azul where its heart would be, if these things had hearts that is.

The Beowolf roared in pain before grabbing Shade out from underneath itself and throwing him at the last Beowolf that was about to attack Petra.

"That looked like it hurt" Petra said sarcastically while pushing the evaporating corpse of a Beowolf off herself.

Shade got up off the dazed Beowolf and quickly shot it in the head multiple times with his pistol. To vent his frustration more than anything else.

"We still have the big guy over there," Petra announced sticking a thumb at the growling alpha.

The Beowolf lifted its head to howl for reinforcements but never got the chance as Shade started shooting at its exposed neck before charging at the Grimm. He swung Brasa Azul at its neck and decapitated the alpha.

The Grimm fell dead at their feet.

"Calmed down?" Petra asked.

"For now." Shade answered.

**[...]**

Hunter had been wandering for the past few minutes, not seeing anything remotely resembling human or animal. Or Grimm for that matter.

He was thankful for that lesson Teresa had given him and Shade. That and the two weeks he had training with his weapons, he knew he could handle an average Beowolf in a fight. But he had no clue how well he would do against the many other Grimm types out there.

Using Twin Leaves was actually a simple concept for him. In their gun form they were mostly just gigantic oversized pistols that shot shotgun shells. Since Hunter had grown up around guns he was no stranger to a big kick in a small package.

There was also the fact that his weapons could transform into swords. Thanks to the Jaeger program training, he also knew how to handle a sword as well. All due to Shade's aunt insisting that all pilots learn how to use a sword. That training helped save some pilots lives and made for some quicker Kaiju kills after blades were added to Jaegers.

The tricky part was when they were in their scythe form. He had trained with batons during the Jaeger program, the scythe's were almost identical. The only difference was that they had a sharp curved blade at the end. The part that was tricky for Hunter was the fact that he had to hook them onto whatever he was fighting, meaning he'd have very little space to escape if his attack failed. Although, he was thankful for Ruby teaching him a trick that could help, that he managed to use on one of the Beowolves he fought in Teresa's lesson.

All in all, he was confident enough in his abilities to not slip up.

Hunter had heard gunshots all over the forest however, so he knew many students were not far away.

As he approached a clearing, he saw someone fighting what looked to be an Ursa, a large bear-like Grimm found pretty much everywhere.

The person had their back turned and was about to throw something at the Ursa before Hunter shot it causing the Grimm to back off. The person turned around revealing to be Rona from the night before.

She wore a sleeveless, black, open coat with long tails at the back, a grey shirt, black pants and sneakers. She was also holding what looked like a set of dust coated shurikens.

"Thanks," Rona stated in a flat tone.

"Your welcome, now let's kill this thing!" Hunter said enthusiastically.

He quickly aimed Twin leaves at the Ursa and fired. The Fire Dust slugs sank into their target, but didn't kill it.

"Seriously?! It survived THAT?!" Hunter exclaimed.

Rona used the distraction Hunter provided to get behind the Ursa and jump on its back.

Hunter continued to fire upon the Ursa, not killing it but still doing damage.

Rona pulled out one of her shurikens and tried to stab the Ursa in the eye with said weapon. She was successful in driving the sharp end into its eye before getting thrown off by the beast. Rona slammed against a tree, draining most of her Aura.

The Ursa was stunned, but it wasn't dead yet.

An idea popped into Hunter's head. Hunter quickly reloaded Twin leaves with Gravity Dust rounds and transformed his weapons into their scythe form. He then charged the Ursa and caught the blades on the left side of its neck. Hunter then pulled the triggers using the kick from the Gravity Dust rounds to decapitate the Ursa.

"Well," Hunter said as he walked over to Rona and helped her up. "That was fun"

"Yeah… fun…" Rona replied between breaths.

Hunter transformed Twin Leaves back into their shotgun form and put them back into their holsters at his sides.

"We should get going," Rona said "No telling what kind of attention that drew."

"You're probably right," Hunter replied "let's get out of here."

After a few minutes of walking Hunter and Rona stumbled across a massive pack of Beowolves.

"RUUUUUUN!" Hunter yelled as he fired into the pack that began chasing them.

"I AM RUNNING!" Rona shouted back. She noticed the trees began to thin out ahead. "There's a clearing up ahead! Maybe we can get them off our tails"

But once they reached the clearing.

"Are you kidding me?! This isn't a clearing! It's a cliff!" Hunter exclaimed before several Beowolves charged out of the tree line.

"JUMP!" Rona yelled before doing so herself.

Hunter quickly followed suit and shouted "Look out below!" as he and Rona fell down the cliff.

The Beowolf pack chased them till the edge of the cliff only to bump three of Beowolves in the pack off the cliff.

When they landed they saw Ruby, Weiss, Jaune and Pyrrha looking at them.

"Hey guys!" Hunter greeted the group as he and Rona got up.

The three Beowolves that got knocked off the cliff crash landed behind them, a bit stunned if nothing else.

Hunter and Rona regrouped with the others. "Hey Ruby, do you think you can take care of these guys?" Hunter asked pointing his thumb over at the Grimm behind him.

"Sure thing!" Ruby responded. Instead of reaching for Crescent Rose, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a red ribbon and a set of ear plugs.

"What are you doing!" Weiss yelled in concern. "Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

"Hey Ice Queen, be quiet and watch. She's much stronger when she does this." Hunter told Weiss.

"Hey!"

Ruby put the earplugs in and cover her eyes with the ribbon. Her entire world went dark and silent. But her new sixth sense increased tenfold. The three Beowolves finally got up and stared down at what looked like a completely defenceless girl standing in front of them. Ruby reached for Crescent Rose and extended it into its full scythe form.

The Beowolves charged at her with full murderess intent. When the first one reached Ruby only for her to use her semblance to get behind it. She hooked Crescent Rose over its right shoulder and sliced through its torso.

The second Beowolf tried to attack her from the side. Ruby already noticed that and continued the swing into the skull of the Grimm. The blade pierced the skull of the Grimm and continued through until its head was bisected.

The last Grimm tried to attack her from behind, but Ruby used her weapon to spin herself around to kick it in the face. The Beowolf was stunned for a moment as she used her chance to use the full momentum to slice off the Grimm's arm torso and head all in a matter of two seconds.

After the Grimm fell, Ruby turned her head and noticed the energy being released by the creature in the cave was a lot stronger than before and it was starting to stir.

She folded Crescent Rose into its carry form and put it back into its holster on her lower back. Ruby removed the ribbon and ear plugs and noticed the shocked look on everyone's face except Hunter's.

"What?" Ruby asked.

"How the heck did you manage to do that!" Weiss asked still shocked at what Ruby had done.

"Has she told you that she can sense Grimm yet?" Hunter asked the group. Pyrrha, Jaune and Weiss nodded as they watched Ruby back away from the cave.

"Wait she can sense Grimm?" Rona asked.

"I'll explain in detail but we have to leave." Ruby told the group. "We have a relic to find and we also need to get away from that cave. Whatever is in there, it noticed the fight and is beginning to stir."

"No need to tell me twice." Hunter replied and began to follow Ruby through the forest. The rest of the group followed after the two asking a series of questions that the young red reaper tried her best to answer.

**[...]**

Back on the cliff, the three professors looked on as the initiation progressed.

"Ozpin, the last partners have been made, Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie, honestly I feel sorry for the boy." Glynda said.

Ozpin said nothing as he continued on watching a certain group heading towards the temple. _How odd that miss Rose was able to detect such things… indeed this year will be interesting. _He mused then he turned his attention to the third spectator of the initiation.

"Teresa, how did you teach miss Rose to detect Grimm, since Grimm do not have souls therefore they do not posses Aura." Ozpin asked.

Teresa remained watching the forest as she spoke "Indeed these creatures do not have souls, but they still exhaust an energy from their bodies at all times. Me and a few others have learned how to read that energy and dodge attacks before they even happen. Though, miss Rose only recently began learning how detect Grimm and has yet to master that trick. I doubt she will be able to learn it cause she is more of a speedster type from what her semblance has shown me." She began to focus her sixth sense towards the cave that Ruby and her group had found, wondering why she wanted to get away from the cave. "As for how I taught her how to detect Grimm, I just followed the instructions that Emilia Rose told me to follow that she used to teach Ruby's mother." Teresa's eyes snapped to attention as her sixth sense detected something that should have not been there and was as serious threat.

Ozpin and Glynda's eyes widened a bit at the information and then widened some more as Teresa unsheathed her claymore and prepared to jump into the forest.

"Teresa, what are you doing?" Ozpin asked.

"You know we can't intervene in this initiation, correct?" Professor Goodwitch added.

"I know, but sadly this initiation will be a bloodbath if I can't get rid of this problem soon. How it managed to hide its presence from me is commendable but not good enough, it could have used the Grimm as cover." Teresa responded.

"Excuse me but 'It'?" Glynda questioned.

"A monster in the form of a human, an Awakened, and I know who…" Teresa replied and then leaped off the cliff to hunt down the threat, leaving the two professors in shock.

**[...]**

Back in the cave after the six huntsmen and huntresses in training left, the creature inside it as stirring, something monstrous, and it was hungry…

"I ssssmell fresssh Gutsss." the thing hissed as is moved out of the cave and began to track the group. It had fed on those black creatures, but they never satisfied its hunger, it wanted more. The creature wanted the sweet guts of those younglings if its hearing heard right. But now it is time to feast and those black creatures will not stop it.

Not only that, it wanted that scent among the group that smelled like her…

**[...]**

**A/N: hope you enjoyed the chapter and the little cliffhanger.**

**Side note chapter 9 will be slightly delayed because next week I will be in the mountains for vacation and when I get back, my family will be visiting from out of state until the end of next month. But once that is over expect chapter 9 to be out around then.**

**Also a hint to who the Awakened that both Ruby and Teresa detected. Her name is a spice or leaf you use while cooking chicken with.**

**See you all next chapter.**


	9. Awakened

**A/N: Well guys I'm back and here is chapter 9. I was glad to see my whole family after a few years.**

**Also, Football season has begun again! GO HAWKS!**

**[...]**

Shade and Petra had continued walking through the forest for the last five minutes hoping that they were going in the right way. A large gunshot sound followed by something flying through the air, landing in front of them, surprised both of them. The thing that landed in front of them was a decapitated Ursa head with a single long blonde hair in its mouth.

"Uh oh." Shade said a bit scared as he noticed the hair.

"Why uh oh?" Petra asked a bit concerned.

Her question was answered as Yang walked out from behind some trees and over to the Ursa head. The color of her eyes were red while her hair was slightly ablaze. She raised her boot to the head and smashed its skull in.

"DON'T MESS WITH MY HAIR!" She screamed at the evaporating head.

Yang turned and noticed both Shade and Petra staring at her in slight fear.

"Hey guys! How's it going?" She asked as she calmed down. Her eyes turned back to their normal lilac color and the flames in her hair died out.

"Hey Yang," Shade responded nervously. "Calmed down yet?"

Yang simply nodded after a few seconds. "So, Who's your partner?" she asked.

"Petra Brown." Petra said introducing herself while holding out her hand. "And you are?"

"Yang Xiao Long" Yang said with a smile as she shook Petra's hand.

"Yang? Are you okay?" a voice called out and a girl with long black hair and golden eyes walked out of the forest..

"Yeah, I'm okay. That Ursa just messed with my hair, that's all." Yang said as she looked over her long blonde hair. "Oh, before I forget. Meet my partner, Blake Belladonna. Blake meet my friend Shade Royal and his new partner Petra Brown.

"Hello." Both Shade and Petra said with a smile and a small wave.

Blake simply nodded and then turned her attention to Yang. "We should continue finding those relics" She said pointing towards a path heading towards a very large clearing.

"Mind if we join you two?" Petra asked.

"Not at all. Feel free to help out if we all run into some Grimm." Yang said and Blake simply nodded.

Both Shade and Petra followed Yang and Blake through the forest striking up a few conversations here and there between the four of them.

"So Yang. How did you and Shade meet?" Petra asked clearly interested in the topic.

"Well, a few weeks ago, me and my little sister Ruby were walking home with Teresa after some lessons she was teaching both of us. We were passing the beach and I had asked Teresa what her semblance was." Yang began as she remembered that day was the first time she captured a Grimm alive. Blake listened in hoping that the conversation would shed some light on the new professor.

"She told us that she never had one due to the fact her Aura was still sealed. Ruby had a little joyful freak out moment and I decided to look out at the beach. Mostly to enjoy the waves but I saw something that didn't belong in the surf. I asked both of them what it was and Ruby decided to investigate what the thing was. She discovered that it wasn't an object but a wounded person passed out. The guy turned out to be Shade's partner Hunter."

"As we were trying to get him home to be patched up, he woke up for a moment and mentioned his partner was still out there before passing out again. Teresa took him to our house while both me and my sister ran down the beach looking for this guy." Yang continued as she pointed her thumb at Shade. "About ten to fifteen minutes later we found Shade here on the beach almost has injured as Hunter was."

"Hunter had a broken arm and was in a coma for almost fourteen hours, as well as cuts and bruises all over his body." Shade added, "I was lucky to only get cut up and bruised but, we both were hurt very badly."

"Yeah this guy woke up a few moments after we found him and both me and Ruby helped him walk back to our house where my dad and Teresa patched them both up. They stayed with us till we arrived at Beacon yesterday." Yang finished as she ducked under a low branch that was hanging over the trail.

"What were you two doing to get injured that badly?" Petra asked Shade with curiosity in her eyes.

"Atlas asked us and a couple of others to pilot an experimental aircraft to Vale and back. After that they were going to pay for the trip back to Vale and give their recommendation to Beacon to let us in." Shade explained. "But, when we neared Vale we were attacked by Grimm and had to eject near Patch. I can say that they needed to fix the emergency pods cause they kinda broke apart when we hit the water."

"I can see that happening." Petra commented off handedly.

"What was professor Silver teaching both you and your sister Yang?" Blake asked after a few moments.

"Well our grandma asked her to teach Ruby how to sense Grimm when she got older before she died." Yang began. Blake visibly twitched at the mention of someone being able to sense Grimm like someone she knew who could do the same thing.

"Our mom disappeared a bit before that happened so she couldn't teach Ruby when she got old enough. When Teresa arrived at our house she gave my dad a letter from our grandma explaining why she was there. She, herself, also has the ability to sense Grimm. Grandma's letter said that she specialized in that skill."

"Wait! That's impossible! There's no way anyone can sense Grimm." Petra interrupted.

"No, it's not impossible. I know someone who can do that as well." Blake said surprising everyone.

"You really should have seen what Ruby did a few days ago." Shade added. "She was wearing a blindfold and had earplugs in while fighting a whole pack of Beowolves. Including an Alpha as well. She took them all out without taking a single hit."

Petra's jaw practically unhinged itself and fell to the ground.

"Can your sister read the Grimm's energy flow yet?" Blake asked.

"No, not yet. Teresa believes she won't be able to due to it's an even rarer talent among those who can sense Grimm energy. So after two months, Teresa explained that instead of trying to teach her to read the flow, she needed to learn to expand how far she can sense the Grimm."

"So what was professor Silver teaching you?" Petra asked.

"Well I can't sense Grimm and I doubt I ever will. Ruby needed Grimm to learn how to sense them and Patch isn't exactly the most Grimm infested island. So, we had to go capture them alive and as many as we could at the time. But another problem was that Teresa had only herself to capture the Grimm. So she decided that she would teach me how to capture live Grimm and have me help carry them back so that Ruby could improve with her lessons." Yang explained.

Everyone nodded but another question was pounding at the back of Blake's mind.

"Do you know where she got that sword?" Blake asked hoping that this question would reveal some very important answers.

"No I don't. But she told us that she had it for most of her life. I first mistook it for my grandma's claymore that was lost when she died. I kinda thought she stole it and was about to fight her to reclaim the sword but Teresa explained that there were other claymores like the one she had and my grandma's. Each one has a different emblem on it though they all do look similar and sometimes the grip's color is different. That and the fact that my grandma's claymore has two emblems on it as well."

A fearful feeling that was building up in Blake since the day before subsided for the first time. _It's not His claymore,_ She thought as all four of them began to enter a clearing. She was about to ask a few more questions but Yang held up her right fist signaling for them to stop.

In the center of the clearing was the ruins that held the relic's they were supposed to retrieve but there were four Beowolves sniffing around the ruins. Shade, Blake and Petra drew their weapons expecting a fight.

"Guys wait. I got this." Yang said as she walked over to the Grimm. Shade immediately understood what Yang was planning on doing but kept his weapons drawn as he watched Yang. As she approached the Grimm they noticed her and charged towards her with the intent to kill.

Yang rushed the Beowolves and then jumped over the closest one and landed right in the middle of all four of them. Right where she wanted them. She lunged her fists at two of the Beowolve's throats and struck them hard enough to cut off airflow for a moment. She repeated the process with the other two Grimm. The Grimm grabbed their throats and tried to gasp for air. Yang got behind one of the Beowolves and struck it on the back of the head with enough force to stun it. She then swept her foot under the Beowolf and knocked it off its feet. As the Grimm fell, she punched it in the jaw with enough force to dislocate it. The moment the Beowolf landed on the ground, it was knocked out cold. Yang turned and repeated the process with the other three Beowolves and a few moments later all four Grimm was out cold.

Yang reached into a pouch she had on the left side of her belt and pulled out four long Kevlar grade ribbons. She made sure that all four Grimm were on their bellies before she tied them up. Once she got done, the Grimm's legs were tied to their arms by the wrists and ankles. Then surprisingly she bent down to each one and made sure that their jaws were attached firmly back in place.

"Hey Yang? Why did you reattach their jaws?" Shade asked.

"If I don't reset their jaws then the injury can cause them to die before I could transport them back. Took me three weeks to figure that part out." Yang explained in detail.

"Do you think this is it?" Petra asked as they neared the ruins. In the center was some extremely well crafted pillars with chess pieces on top of said pillars.

"This is probably the temple that we were supposed to find." Yang commented as she stuffed the tied up Beowolves in a corner of the ruins.

"I guess these are the relics," Shade said as he examined the chess pieces. "Which one should we-" He looked over and saw Petra grab a white queen and Yang grab a white knight.

"How about a cute little pony?" Yang suggested holding up her chess piece.

"That works I guess." Shade shrugged.

The sound of some bushes and trees rustling caught their attention and they quickly armed themselves. Six people ran out of the woods and into the clearing. The group stopped and caught their breath.

"Think we got far enough away from what ever you sensed Ruby?" Hunter asked as he looked around and noticed the four people looking at them.

"I think so." Ruby answered as she saw her sister looking at her.

"Hey it's Shade and Petra!" Hunter announced.

"Yang!" Ruby cried out as she ran over to her sister and gave her a hug.

"Guess I'm wrong with directions." Weiss silently muttered.

"Ruby! And Ice Queen." Yang said while returning the hug.

"Hey!"

"So? Who's with who?" Yang asked. "Got Blake here." she pointed her thumb at Blake while she held the knight piece. "And Shade's with Petra."

"Oh! I'm with Weiss." Ruby said "Jaune's with Pyrrha and Hunter is with Rona."

Hunter walked over to Shade and they quickly shook hands. "I see you found yourself a partner." Shade told his friend.

"Hey, don't call yourself out just yet." Hunter responded.

"Hey Rona!" Petra called out as Rona caught up to Hunter.

"Hi." Rona deadpanned.

The little reunion was interrupted as a loud roar echoed from the forest followed by an explosion. An Ursa stumbled out of the treeline with Nora riding on its back. She let out a loud 'Weeeee!" as the Ursa collapsed and died.

"Aww, its broken." Nora cried.

Another person ran out of the treeline and caught up with the girl.

"Did… Did that girl ride in on an Ursa?" Blake asked a bit bewildered.

Ren stood next to the dead Ursa that Nora was standing on and tried to catch his breath. After a few moments he finally spoke up. "Nora…"

"Yes Ren?" Nora asked with enthusiasm.

"Please don't do that again." He looked up and Nora had disappeared. Ren looked around and saw that Nora was looking at a white rook piece. She picked it up and began singing 'I'm Queen of the castle. I'm Queen of the castle' before earning another 'Nora' from Ren.

"Coming Ren!" She called out.

"Well that's a thing." Yang remarked, "So Rubes? Whatcha gonna choose?"

"That's the artifact we're supposed to retrieve?" Weiss asked as she eyed the piece in Yang's hand. "Ruby, I think we should-"

"Pick the horsey also!" Ruby cheered as she held up the other white knight chess piece in the air. Weiss just let out a sigh.

Hunter looked at the chess pieces and noticed another white queen piece. He decided to grab that one.

Jaune walked over and grabbed the other white rook piece. "Well, that was easy." he said as he held the 'Relic'.

"I guess we should head-" Petra said before she was cut off when a loud roar was heard coming from the forest.

"Oh come on!" Hunter yelled.

What left the forest was the same large Beowolf pack that was chasing Hunter and Rona. That same pack managed to pick up a few Boarbatusks and a couple of Ursa. The Grimm charged at the group.

"Well looks like we fight our way out then." Yang said as she loaded Ember Celica. Everyone else readied their weapons, except for Ruby.

"Ruby?" Weiss asked the young girl as said girl's body trembled and her eyes were wide in fear.

"Do you feel that?" Ruby asked.

"Feel what?" Weiss said clearly aggravated. "Look the Grimm are coming and if we don't-"

"No, I mean that sensation… That energy…" Ruby interrupted.

Yang raised an eyebrow. "You mean something like what Teresa told us during your lessons?"

"Yeah, and it's coming closer."

Everyone noticed Yang change her stance from gun-ho attacking to pure solid defensive. Shade and Hunter followed Yang's lead and mounted their own defensive stance as well. After knowing Yang for a while, they knew she liked to charge head first into a fight. Seeing her take a defensive stance before an opponent even appeared meant only one thing. This was serious.

"What are you two talking about?" Weiss snapped.

A dark shadow loomed overhead as a body of a Deathstalker came crashing down on the group of Grimm. The few that survived stopped running and turned to their assailant.

A woman stepped out of the treeline and into the clearing. She had brown hair that was covered in dirt and cold green eyes that watched the Grimm closely.

"Such pests." The woman muttered. Then as fast as the group of Huntsmen and Huntresses in training could blink, she moved to the remaining Grimm.

"Ohh, I like her." Nora said as she saw the woman crush a charging Boarbatusk with her bare foot.

"Who is she?" Pyrrha asked.

"No idea. Is she a Huntress?" Jaune replied with a wince when he saw the woman decapitate a Beowolf with her bare hands.

"I don't think so, just look at her clothes." Weiss retorted. The woman's clothes were made of old dirty rags which were stained in some places. They continued to watch the woman as she ripped one of the Ursa's in half and then proceeded to slam the other into the ground.

Shade looked over to Ruby and noticed that something was off. "Ruby? Why are you shaking?" he asked as everyone turned their attention for a moment to the young red reaper. They noticed that her entire body was trembling uncontrollably in fear.

"That feeling, it's from her." Ruby whispered only loud enough for the group to hear. "It's the same feeling I got from that cave but it's a lot stronger now."

"Are you sure?" Pyrrha asked as she readied her weapon along with Yang and Blake.

"She's something else." Blake said as her instincts practically screamed at her that the woman was not human.

Shade grabbed a cyan Dust crystal and held it at the ready with his thumb just above the slot for it on Brasa Azul. He then grabbed his pistol and held it at the ready. Hunter quickly reloaded Twin Leaves with a mix of ice, lightning, lava, and earth Dust slug shotgun shells, then aimed at the woman.

As the last of the Grimm here dispatched, the woman then turned to the group. A look of hunger was clear in her eyes. "Well, now that the nuisances are taken care of."

"Alright lady! You may have saved us from those Grimm but who are you?" Yang demanded but stayed on the defensive knowing that this woman was bad news.

"That doesn't matter, girl. What matters is that one of you smell like someone I knew before." the woman said before showing her sharp teeth and then lunged towards the group. A gunshot was heard as the woman fell with a smoking hole in her chest. They all turned towards where the gunshot came from and saw that Ruby was the one who fired. Fear was clearly showing in her silver eyes.

"RUBY!" You… you just shot someone!" Weiss exclaimed.

"I...I… she was going to…" Ruby tried to explain as her fear was increasing.

"Ruby?" Weiss trailed off as she looked back at the woman and saw her get up again. "No way…"

"Simple minded humans." the woman said as her wound sealed itself faster than what even Aura could do. "You don't even know the likes of me!" the woman's fingers and nails turned into claws and her eyes became golden with the pupils becoming slits. "Now, why don't you all just die so I can feast on your delicious Guts!" The woman focused her attention on Blake. "Starting with you!" The woman then attacked her with a swipe from her right clawed hand in a right to left downward motion. Luckily, Blake activated her semblance in time and evaded while her shadow clone took the hit. The woman then evaded a strike from Yang and some rounds from Pyrrha, Ren and Petra's weapons.

"Persistent little brats." the woman said as she evaded a strike from Nora's grenade launcher hammer. She was then pushed backwards from a few of Weiss's Glyphs. "Why don't you all stay still!" That moment the woman released an enormous wave of energy from her body and everyone felt it. The only one in the group who had felt that energy before was Ruby and it was when she sensed it in normal Grimm. But compared to this, normal Grimm were like krill staring down a whale.

"Guys! Keep a good distance from her!" Ruby called out. A memory tugged at the back of her mind and she remembered her second lesson that Teresa had taught her.

"_Why do I need to learn how to sense Grimm?" Ruby asked as Teresa, Yang and herself stood in the center of the training area on patch._

"_It's a skill you need to learn so you can know where and how strong a Grimm is. Like Aura, the more you practice it the stronger it gets." Teresa explained._

"_But why does Grimm emit this energy? They don't have souls so they shouldn't be able to release anything like Aura."_

"_It is not an Aura like you are familiar with, for it is an energy released by Grimm. This energy has a name and it is called 'Yoki'"_

"_Yoki?"_

"_Yoki is like in a sense a Grimm's version of Aura but it functions completely different. But you both should remember what I am about to tell you."_

_Both Ruby and Yang nodded their heads as they paid close attention to Teresa._

_Not only Grimm have Yoki running through their bodies. There's another group that me and my… comrades hunt, they are called…"_

"She's an Awakened!" Ruby shouted. As the words left her mouth the fear that was controlling her entire body disappeared completely.

"A what?!" Weiss screeched.

"Shit!" Yang swore. Normally Ruby would be on her sister whenever she cursed but at that moment that word fit the bill of how bad of a situation they were in.

"You. Little girl. What did you just call me?" the woman asked as she stared at Ruby with such murderous intent that it sent shivers down the little red reaper's spine. "You called me an Awakened. How did you know that?!"

"I…"

"ANSWER ME!" the woman demanded as she lunged towards the girl.

"RUBY!" the others yelled, as she closed her eyes for the inevitable.

A loud CLANG sounded over the clearing.

Ruby opened an eye and saw a claymore holding back the woman's claw.

"My, my, I never thought we would ever see each other again, Rosemary." The owner of the sword said with a smile.

"Teresa!" Ruby cried out.

"YOU!" Rosemary snarled in anger. The one person she hated most was now standing in front of her and holding her attack back. "HOW DARE YOU DENY MY FEAST!" Rosemary attacked Teresa with her other claw, only for it to be shot off by a 50 cal. Dust round.

"Stay away from her!" Ruby cried out as she leveled Crescent Rose at Rosemary. The Awakened screamed in both rage and pain.

"Ruby!" Yang yelled as she and the rest of the students prepared to fight for their lives.

"Ruby," Teresa said "You and the others should get away from here. She's out of your league."

"Wha? But Teresa!" Ruby said as she stood her ground. "We can't leave you with her!"

"Yeah!" Yang shouted as she took aim at Rosemary with Ember Celica. The rest of the students nodded in agreement, with the exception of Blake as she was hesitant to either fight or flight.

Teresa looked at them as she still held Rosemary off with her claymore. _Their eyes are filled with determination,_ Teresa thought. _Just like the rest of the warriors._ "I guess I can't talk you all out of this, can I?" She sighed as she smiled faintly at them. "Better assist me then."

"Right!" they all yelled in unison as they took aim at Rosemary.

_Are they all insane!? _Blake thought, _we need to run away from these… whatever they are! _Her mind was screaming at her to run away, but her instincts and soul were screaming back, telling her to stand and fight. At that moment her instincts and soul won out and she stood along with her future teammates and classmates.

Rosemary laughed as she managed to push Teresa back a few meters. "Pathetic, you all are pathetic. Teresa may be here but I have improved over the past few years." Her face began to distort with grotesque features, her teeth sharpened even more. As she released an even more large amount of Yoki her body began to grow, distort and mutate.

"NOW, YOU PATHETIC FOOLS," her body began to transform at a rapid rate. Monstrous features began to form and change Rosemary's body. "**Now know true fear!"** Rosemary ended her transformation and everyone except for Teresa gasped in fear as they saw her true form. A monster.

**[...]**

Back on the cliff, the two other professors watched in fascinated horror. The woman had turned into something that shouldn't exist. A tall humanoid beast whose head had no eyes, Rosemary's body was part of the thing's torso. Eight crab like legs supported the creature's body. A massive scaly tail with a long blade like tip moved from side to side. On the creature's hips were two large heads with no eyes and large mouths with rows of sharp teeth. Lastly three pairs of blade like wings of varying sizes sprouted from the creature's back and above the shoulders. Besides the part that was Rosemary's human body, the creature was mostly purple and red with hints of blues and greens. The creature itself looked to be nearly thirty feet tall.

"What… is she, Ozpin?" Glynda asked with fear in her eyes. "That thing does not look like a Grimm at all!"

Ozpin narrowed his eyes. "I believe that the answer lies with Teresa. I am glad that she went to them. Heavens know what that… or she would do."

"We need to assist them as soon as possible." Glynda demanded. "This is beyond the usual initiations."

"I agree, Glynda. I have notified reinforcements and they are on their way. But, I have faith that Teresa can handle the creature."

Professor Goodwitch frowned at this. They both watched as the Awakened Rosemary laugh at the students.

**[...]**

Rosemary laughed at the students who were shaking in fear. "**Now… who is going to die first?"**

"Umm, can we still pick run and live?" Jaune asked sheepishly as he held Crocea Mors.

"Nope." Yang said as she examined Rosemary's Awakened form. "Even if we run, she can still catch up to us. I don't even think that Ruby can outrun her."

"I really wish we had Banshee here with us." Hunter stated. Shade nodded in agreement.

"Everyone." Teresa announced as she kept an eye on the Awakened Rosemary. "Keep your distance from her. I fear that she can deplete your Aura in a single hit." Everyone's eyes widened at the information.

"Ruby, you and those who prefer long range combat keep her suppressed. Those who go for closer range are with me. Only do hit and run tactics, do not stay long"

"Got it!" they all called out in unison.

[play any sort of fighting music]

Ruby, Ren, Hunter, Petra and Nora fired their weapons at the Awakened. Shade pressed the Hard light Dust crystal he held into Brasa Azul. The blade glowed cyan in an elegant pattern. Hard light energy erupted from the blade and created an extremely sharp edge that followed the edge of the blade. He swung Brasa Azul at Rosemary. Energy from the Blade was launched and struck the Awakened. Rona followed up by throwing Fire Dust coated shurikens. Weiss created multiple Glyphs then fired multiple large icicles.

Teresa, Blake, Yang, Pyrrha, and reluctantly Jaune charged at the Awakened.

Rosemary covered her human head with her arms and blade wings. As the Dust rounds hit her she growled in anger. "**Why you little-"** One of Nora's grenades struck the upper part of Rosemary's left arm, causing it to lurch back and expose her side. "**Gahhh!"**

Rosemary tried to attack Yang with her left claw but it was blocked by Teresa's claymore. She tried to attack with her other claw, only for it to be slashed by Pyrrha. Pyrrha retreated just as the awakened tried to bite at her with the right pelvic head.

"**Just stand there and DIE ALREADY!"** Rosemary raged. She tried to strike one of her claws at Jaune who was late jumping away. Luckily, Pyrrha threw Akoúo at the claw and it deflected it away from him.

"**Such pests!"** Rosemary roared as she swung her tail which hit Yang as she charged in.

"Yang!" Ruby cried out as her sister struggled to stand.

"Damn, she hit harder than I thought." Yang said as she winced. "I think I'm at half my Aura now."

"**Enough of this!"** Rosemary screamed. In a split second she moved behind the people firing at her and swung her tail at them. All of them managed to jump out of the way except Hunter. The tail managed to graze his foot but it was hit with such a force that it made him spin head over foot and landed on his back. His weapons were knocked out of his hands. The Awakened knelt down and picked Hunter up by the torso. She pulled him close and examine him closely.

"**My, My. Aren't you handsome. You'll make an excellent meal."** Rosemary cooed before she opened her jaw on her human head wider than thought possible, revealing many sharp teeth.

Hunter stared directly into Rosemary's eyes. "Screw… you…" he mumbled.

"**Huh? What was that?"** Rosemary asked.

"I SAID SCREW YOU!" Hunter yelled as he grabbed the combat knife in his boot and slammed it into Rosemary's left eye. The Awakened screamed in pain and dropped Hunter to the ground. He landed and retreated to safety after he grabbed his weapons.

"**You little bastard! I'll KILL YOU!"** She screamed as she couldn't pull the knife out of her eye due to her clawed hands were too large to even grab it.

"That's my job." a voice announced in Rosemary's new blind spot. She turned to see Shade standing on one of her crab legs mid swing. She tried to strike him with her right clawed hand only for the entire claw to be sliced off.

"Hey Rosemary! Think fast!" Yang shouted as she threw one of the Beowolves that she had tied up at the Awakened. The Beowolf had woken up due to all the negative emotions the fight with Rosemary had caused. When she threw it, the ribbon she used to tie it up stayed in her hand. The Beowolf landed on Rosemary and began tearing into her. She screamed in pain before using her remaining claw to kill it.

Using the distraction, Teresa got behind the Awakened Rosemary and stabbed her claymore into the base of Rosemary's tail. In two quick and elegant movements, she severed the tail.

"**Die you Bi-" **Rosemary was interrupted as Nora pounded her with explosions from Magnhild.

"Hahaha! Take that you big meanie!" Nora called out.

"Blake! Keep her distracted!" Ruby ordered.

"Ren, help her out." Jaune told his classmate. They both nodded and began jumping around Rosemary's body firing and swinging their blades at her. Teresa joined them to make sure that the Awakened's remaining claw didn't kill them. While doing so, she managed to cut off both of the pelvic heads.

"Nora can you weaken its left legs?" Jaune asked. She nodded and fired at Rosemary's left set of crab legs.

Shade caught on to what Jaune was doing. "Hunter! Rona! Freeze her remaining legs!" Shade ordered. They both nodded and Hunter fired Ice Dust into her legs while Rona threw her ice dust coated shurikens at the joints in the legs. Shade pulled his weight by using an Ice dust crystal on Brasa Azul and then stabbed the legs causing them to freeze.

Jaune nodded at Pyrrha when Nora's bombardment ended and they both rushed the Awakened. They began cutting at the weakest spots on the legs.

Petra began running directly at the legs that her friends managed to freeze.

"**This isn't supposed to happen!" **Rosemary cried out.

Ruby readied herself as Yang picked her up. Yang's hair was on fire and her eyes were a deep crimson. Weiss readied a Glyph behind them.

"Ruby, I think this is insane!" Weiss said as Ruby loaded her scythe with Gravity dust ammunition.

"I kinda agree with Ice queen over here." Yang said a bit worried for her sister and receiving a "Hey" from the Heiress.

"Alright Now!" Ruby ordered in which her sister launched her with all her strength boosted by her semblance. Weiss's propulsion Glyph added more force to Ruby's launch.

"Take this!" she yelled then activated her semblance while firing Crescent Rose. The speed that Ruby was traveling managed to break the sound barrier.

"**What! Foolish girl!"** Rosemary exclaimed as she tried to dodge. At that moment her frozen legs shattered as Petra, using her semblance, ran through each one smashing them with her body and fists. At the same time Jaune and Pyrrha managed to slice off the remaining legs, completely immobilizing her. Rosemary desperately tried to strike at Ruby with her remaining clawed hand but it too was removed by Teresa.

"**What? NO!"** Rosemary cried out as she knew her fate. As she saw the young red reaper basically fly at her, a faint image of another woman was behind Ruby almost guiding the girl. The image of the woman looked like that of the young girl but also was wearing the standard claymore uniform. Only one word was said as she felt the cold metal of Crescent Rose's blade on her throat. "**Monster…"** After that the Awakened being known as Rosemary was decapitated and fell for the last time.

[end fighting music]

As Ruby landed, she stabbed Crescent Rose into the ground to slow down. After a few moments of catching her breath, she stood up and looked at the gathered Huntsmen and Huntresses in training. They all had survived. While her stunt was a bit unorthodox, it was effective as the finishing blow.

"We did it you guys!" Ruby cheered before walking back to the group and taking a well deserved rest. She rested against the ruins of the temple which surprisingly survived the fight.

"You did good Ruby." Teresa praised the young girl before turning to the rest. "All of you did good. Now rest up cause in ten minutes you all need to move out and finish your initiation."

"Heh, can't argue with that." Yang said with a shrug. "At least we started off with-"

"Don't even think about it Xiao Long!" Weiss hissed.

"A Yang!" Yang grinned as a collective of groans were her reply.

Hunter walked over to Rosemary's body and removed his knife from her eye. As he examined the blade over, he reflected on that moment when he used it. Two things saved him. The first was his training as a Jaeger pilot that made him not lose to fear of death that was fast approaching him and the second was the fact that he carried that knife due to the stories his grandfather told him. Now he had another reason to return to earth. He needed to thank his grandfather for the stories that saved his life. He wiped the purple blood off the knife with a rag and returned to the group.

After a few minutes, everyone was rested enough to make the trip back to the cliff where the initiation started. As they were leaving the clearing, Teresa made a mental note to tell Ozpin to dispose of the body.

**[...]**

Inside Beacon's Auditorium the initiation continued as normal.

"Russel Thrush, Cardin Winchester, Dove Bronzewing, Sky Lark. The four of you retrieved the black bishop pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team CRDL, led by… Cardin Winchester!" Ozpin said.

The audience applauded to the newly formed group. Jaune, Pyrrha, Ren and Nora walked up onto the stage as Ozpin spoke again.

"Jaune Arc, Lie Ren, Pyrrha Nikos, Nora Valkyrie. The four of you retrieved the white rook pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team JNPR, led by… Jaune Arc!"

"What!?" Jaune asked a bit surprised. Pyrrha placed her hand on his shoulder for reassurance.

"Congratulations young man." Ozpin said as the crowd applauded.

The group left the stage and Shade, Hunter, Petra, and Rona approached.

"Hunter Green, Petra Brown, Rona Ebony, Shade Royal. The four of you retrieved the white queen pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team SPHR, led by… Shade Royal!"

The crowd roared in applause. Shade felt a sense of accomplishment. _If only my aunt could see me now_… Shade thought.

The group walked off stage and the last four students approached.

"And finally, Blake Belladonna, Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, and Yang Xiao Long. The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces. From this day forward, you will work together as Team RWBY, led by… Ruby Rose!"

"I'm so proud of you!" Yang exclaimed as she hugged her sister.

"Guess that idea of yours may have had some influence." Weiss said.

Blake offered a small smile but her eyes darted subtly towards Teresa as said woman clapped along to congratulate the newly formed Teams.

Ozpin cleared his throat to gather the audience's attention.

"As I have all of your attention. Today's initiation went off unexpectedly with the appearance of a new monster. With that said, classes will be suspended for a few days."

Murmurs from the students sounded the hall as Ozpin raised his hand as he continued. "As such we have to reorganize some classes being taught and a new class will be listed in your schedules. For the time being, Feel free to continue with your daily routine." With that said, he left the stage as professor Goodwitch showed the new teams to their dorms and the rest of the students and staff turned in for the night.

**[...]**

Elsewhere in Vale, in an old warehouse. Roman Torchwick stared at a map of Vale on the wall. Clearly frustrated he hung his head and let out a sigh before lighting a cigar. A member of the White Fang pushed a container up to Roman and give him a quick smirk. Roman nodded to the man and handed him some lien.

"Open it." Roman said turning his attention to the container. The White Fang member opened the container to reveal a large amount of varying Dust crystals of multiple sizes. Roman picked up a large Hard Light Dust crystal and gave it a quick look over.

"We're going to need more men." He said calmly.

"If you need more help, I'm willing to give you my services for free." A voice said behind Roman. He turned and saw one of the henchmen he had hired for that Dust shop robbery messing with what looked like new his bionic hand.

"Well look at what the cat dragged in." Roman remarked.

"Shut it, Roman. I'm here to help you and hopefully you can help me get revenge on the blonde bitch who took my hand." the man spat.

Roman visibly flinched when he remembered Teresa. He thought about the offer for a moment and then smiled.

"Well as long as you pull your weight, me and my 'friends' may be able to help you." He said with a smile. "Though what should I call you?"

"Call me, Grall Grullo." Grall said holding out his bionic hand.

"Well Grall, looks like this is the start of a beautiful friendship." Roman said as he shook Grall's hand.

**[...]**

**A/N: Well that took me a while. Had to completely rewrite that Awakened fight so that Team SPHR could be added in and I think it turned out ok.**

**Though those of you who are wondering. Whenever someone who is a descendant of a claymore kills an Awakened or Yoma. That Awakened or Yoma will see the claymore ancestor of said person.**

**Also in a few more chapters the 3rd crossover story will be added into this one. I hope you like dragons.**


	10. Remembrance

A/N: Sorry for the long wait. That last chemo treatment really did a number on me and it took me a bit longer to recover than normal. But anyway here is the new chapter I hope you all enjoy.

[...]

Team SPHR started to collectively wake up. Shade and Hunter woke up at their usual time of 6:30 am. Petra and Rona woke up around 7:15 to find that both Shade and Hunter were not in their beds.

"Umm… where are the guys?" Petra asked.

Her question was answered when Shade walked in the door with Hunter behind him trying to catch his breath.

"Freak… you… Shade…" Hunter said between breaths.

"You're just mad because I outran you without breaking a sweat." Shade challenged.

"Do you two always start your mornings out with a run?" Petra asked as she stared at Hunter's massive bulk with his t-shirt clinging to his muscles.

"I do, Hunter just challenges me from time to time. Which he regrets doing every time he does so." He said glaring at Hunter.

"Hey! Just because you can outrun me doesn't automatically make you better." Hunter remarked.

"True."

"When did you you two even wake up?" Rona asked.

"6:30, Shade here woke up at 6:29." Hunter said with a smirk "You owe me five lien by the way."

"Fine." Shade growled opening up his wallet and handed said lien to his partner.

"Wait, did you two seriously bet on who would wake up first?!" Petra asked almost laughing.

"He bet, I just agreed to it. Something I regret every time I do so." Shade said.

Shade look at his watch. A little over three hours till the cafeteria closed for breakfast. Due to classes on break till the new class is finished being assigned, the cafeteria was open a bit longer than normal.

"Well since we have a bit of a break before classes start and the cafeteria won't close for a while, I'm going to go take a shower." Shade stated before walking over to his suitcase. As he grabbed a change of clothes from it a loud shrill screech from a whistle rang through the building.

"What was that?!" Rona asked. 

"Sounded like a whistle from Team RWBY's room." Petra responded.

"Must have been Ruby. She's the only one I can think of who would do something like that." Shade added before walking into the bathroom.

"Well I got dibs after Shade." Hunter stated.

"Dang it!" Petra said "You beat me to it!"

[...]

A few moments earlier, Team RWBY was all peacefully sleeping. Everyone except one person as said person rose up and placed a whistle between her lips and blew.

"AHHH!" the rest of the team shouted in surprise, as a loud and ear piercing sound was heard.

"RUBY!" Yang yelled angrily as her sleep was taken away from her by her own little sister. Blake was still recovering while Weiss gave Ruby a disapproving glare.

"Good morning Team RWBY!" Ruby said enthusiastically as she held the whistle, ignoring the fact that here teammates were currently plotting to get rid of that whistle. As she placed around the dorm room she continued talking.

"Our first order of business as a team is… Decorating!" Ruby held up her suitcase. Due to the suitcase being unlatched the front end fell open and spilled everything inside on the floor.

"Can't we do it tomorrow?" Weiss asked "Considering we have no classes yet."

"But we need to do this. After all, it may take some time to finish and we might be late for class." Ruby responded.

Yang thought about it and just shrugged her shoulders, "Yeah, that's a good idea. Besides, we could hit the hay later."

"Yes… that's a good idea." Blake said absentmindedly "I believe it's better to finish this rather than wait."

Weiss gave a defeated sigh knowing there is no way to change their minds on this.

For the next hour, Team RWBY decorated their dorm only for their beds to be in total disarray. Everyone just sighed in defeat.

"This, isn't going to work." Weiss commented.

"Well, it is a bit cramped." Blake responded.

"Maybe we should ditch some of our stuff." Yang added.

"We could throw out our beds... and replace them with bunk beds!" Ruby said excitedly.

"Umm, that sounds incredibly dangerous." Weiss responded.

"And super awesome!" Yang said pumping her fist.

"It does seem efficient." Blake added.

"Well, we should put it to a vote." Weiss said.

"I think we just did." Ruby responded.

Team RWBY rushed over to the beds and got to work. For the next thirty minutes, all was heard from their dorm was full on construction noises. When they stepped back, they marveled at their work. On the left side, which Ruby and Weiss shared, Ruby's bed was held dangerously by a rope over Weiss's bed. The fact that it tilted a bit didn't help much. On the other side, which Yang and Blake shared, Yang's bed was held up by four stacks of Blake's spare books. Blake sighed in defeat just looking at the bunk bed.

"Well team looks like we are done." Ruby said with a smile.

"Yeah… now I think it's best if we get something to eat." Weiss deadpanned "Considering we wasted over an hour and a half." Both Yang and Blake nodded in agreement.

"Alright team! To the cafeteria!" Ruby announced as she sped out of the room only to run face first into Team SPHR knocking them all down.

"Ow! Ruby, please watch where you are going." Shade said with a wince of pain.

"Sorry!" Ruby apologised.

Weiss just facepalmed while Blake and Yang helped everyone up.

"You guys okay?" a voice asked.

Everyone turned around and saw Team JNPR staring at them with their heads popping out of the door to their dorm like a human totem pole.

"Yeah we're fine." Hunter said as he dusted himself off. "You guys hungry? We're heading down to the cafeteria to grab a bite to eat."

"That sounds wonderful." Pyrrha said before everyone heard a loud rumble. They all looked at the source of the sound the saw Nora holding one of her hands to her stomach. Her cheeks were flushed and she had a big smile on her face for some reason that only she knew.

"Come on Ren! Let's see if they still have any pancakes left." Nora said as she dragged her friend by the arm to the cafeteria.

"Yeah, I'm not sitting next to her again." Hunter remarked.

Shade burst out laughing as he and everyone else headed out to get breakfast.

"What's so funny?" Rona asked.

"Nora stole his pancakes yesterday when he wasn't looking." Shade responded.

"And the fact that the cafeteria wouldn't give me any more cause of her as well." Hunter added.

Both Petra and Rona burst out laughing while Hunter just grumbled.

"So Yang, is there anything you can tell us about professor Silver?" Blake asked.

"Besides some stories that she has told us about those creatures she fought and how she hunted them, there's not that much." Yang answered but a thought popped into her mind. "Although, I was wondering. How did you know about the yoki flow in Grimm?"

Blake thought about it for a moment and decided to tell them the truth. "I know a guy who can sense Grimm and can read the energy flow in them to the point where he can dodge their attacks before they even make a move by sensing that energy." Blake explained. "He sorta is…"

Blake was cut off as her scroll rang and she knew who was calling due to the ringtone. Maybe it's better if he explained this than myself, She thought. Blake quickly answered her scroll and set it to speaker mode.

"Speak of the Grimm…"

"And they will answer." A voice on the other end of the line responded with a laugh.

The troubled feeling she had since two days ago finally disappeared as she heard the man's voice. "I thought you were supposed to meet me here at Beacon two days ago." Blake said with a scowl even though the guy couldn't see it.

"Sorry sis, there was a storm at home and it delayed the ship a few days and also the fact that we were attacked by a Sea Dragon didn't help." the man said grumpily. "Really wish I could see a non-Grimm version of those. Anyway, a few people got hurt but me and Dahlia managed to take it down before it got any worse. I think I have a new way to use my Semblance now."

"Jad, I swear your Semblance gets crazier and crazier with every new idea you come up with." Blake groaned.

"But it works!" Jad laughed. It was the same laugh her father did all the time when she was at home. "So, sorry I'm going to be late but I won't miss the initiation next semester. I'm going to be arriving in Vale in the next few days and staying there till I get into Beacon."

"That's good to hear." She said with a smile. "By the way, there is a new professor here with the same sword as yours and she has your 'talent'.

"Wait! What? She can sense Grimm energy?" Jad asked as his stunned voice sounded from the scroll.

"Yeah, apparently she taught my team leader how to do it as well. Ruby isn't as good as you when it comes to sensing Grimm but we did learn something the hard way. Apparently, there are other creatures out there that have that energy in their bodies and they are worse than Grimm."

"What happened?" he asked with concern dripping from his voice.

"We were doing our initiation. Fight a few Grimm and retrieve something from the forest. But as we retrieved the item we were about to be attacked by a large amount of Grimm until a Deathstalker's body fell from the sky and crushed half of the hoard. The Deathstalker was killed by a woman and then she killed the rest of the Grimm before attacking us. I could tell the woman wasn't human or faunus and Ruby managed to identify her as a creature known as an Awakened. I hoped the name meant something like that she would have a few monstrous features like claws, teeth and the unnatural urge to eat people. How wrong I was. Turns out she was a true monster. She transformed into something that shouldn't even exist. If professor Silver hadn't shown up, I don't think we would have survived." Blake explained.

"I am glad that you are alive to tell me about this." Jad said with a bit of relief. A voice said something on Jad's end of the line and then he responded again. "Okay Blake, I wish I could continue talking to you but I'm about to enter another deadzone out here. I wish you luck for you, your team and any friends you make there. I'll call you this weekend when I arrive in Vale. See ya later sis."

"See ya, Jad" Blake said before the line went dead.

Blake looked up from her scroll and noticed that they were at the cafeteria's front entrance. After they all grabbed their breakfast and joined Ren and Nora at a table, they continued their conversation.

"So who's Dahlia?" Yang asked.

"She's a friend of mine." Blake answered before eating her food.

"What's she like?" Ruby asked innocently.

"She's like a field medic who is a bit obsessed with trying to create a way to make something that can copy her semblance." Blake responded before taking a sip of some tea she had.

"What's her semblance?" Petra asked.

"She calls it Medi. Dahlia can create a beam of aura that heals others extremely fast, but it has limits. She wants to build something that can break those limits and surpass them."

"That sounds like a useful semblance." Hunter commented. He looked back at his stack of pancakes and noticed they were gone again. "What the heck!"

Everyone looked at the other end of the table and saw Nora eating Hunter's pancakes, again. Hunter just groaned with his head in his hands while Ren just facepalmed. Rona and Petra let out a silent chuckle.

"So Ruby, Yang. I was wondering what kinds of stories did professor Silver tell you two?" Weiss asked.

Ruby finished up the cookie she was eating before she answered. "Well she told us many stories about her adventures before we met her. One of them is so sad though."

"Sad?" Weiss asked.

"Oh, you mean the one where she lost someone close to her." Yang added.

"Yeah that one, but I forgot the name of that person." Ruby said sadly.

"Clare…" a voice answered behind the group. They turned around and to their surprise, Teresa was standing behind them holding a tray of food.

"Teresa! Uhh… why are you eating here? Professors usually eat in their studies." Ruby said awkwardly causing Teresa to lightly laugh.

"That is true. But remember, they are still preparing it for the time being." She gestured with a nod of her head towards the table and the three teams made room for her to join them at the table.

"Oh that's great!" Ruby said joyfully.

"Who is Clare?" Petra asked.

"She's my daughter. Well, adopted daughter actually. Her family was killed by a Yoma and then it abused her till she shut herself out from the world to the point where she became mute. I was on a mission to hunt a group of them down that found themselves in a small village. The Yoma that abused her for fun was part of that group and thought it would be a good idea to use her as a shield. I cut the creature down before it could make a move. That is when I first officially met Clare."

"Did you adopt her at that village?" Ruby asked innocently.

"No I didn't. I was a bit more cold back then." Teresa answered a bit saddened about the memory. "When I was about to leave the village, the village chief tried to give me some money for dealing with the Yoma but I told them that I was already hired by someone else to deal with the problem. That's when Clare walked up to me and grabbed ahold of my leg. I shook her off but she kept coming back. That's when I kicked her away from me when she tried to do it for the third time."

Petra, Rona, Pyrrha, and Ruby each had their own versions of shock on their faces but they all listened to Teresa continue her story.

"That is one of my few greatest regrets I've ever done in my life. I left the village right after that. Clare managed to follow me deep into the wilderness to the point where she passed out from exhaustion. I had tried to lose her a few times by going through difficult obstacles for her. But she was the most stubborn and persistent person I have ever met. I actually jumped off a large cliff and managed to land safely. At the time I thought that particular obstacle was too much for her and she would give up. Clare proved me wrong and followed me right off that cliff. Using some branches she made it down but it wasn't gracefully. She passed out a few moments later from being malnourished and dehydrated. I was about to leave her there but I had remembered some bandits that saw us together and then I knew I couldn't leave her out in that wilderness alone."

"I take it that's when you let her accompany you through your travels?" Petra said.

"For a bit. I planned on leaving her with a good family at the next town of village my next job was at. During that time, I got her some food and water and she kinda grew on me. But all that time she never managed to speak at all. I didn't know her name for some time so I decided to call her Clare, which surprisingly was actually her real name." Teresa said with a bit of a laugh.

"I would never have guessed that if I were in your situation." Hunter commented offhandedly.

"I doubt anyone would." Shade added.

Teresa nodded and then continued her story. "The night before we entered the town known as Rokut, I told Clare of my plans to leave her with a good family and my wishes for her to live a normal life as possible. She cried herself to sleep after that." Teresa's voice suddenly became serious as she remembered what happened next. "A bit later I left our camp to find some food for us to eat and I ran into one of the bandits that saw me with Clare. He wanted revenge for me removing his hand the last time we met and he knew two things. The first was that the group I used to work for had an ironclad law that forbids me from killing people. Personally I'm not that type of person in the first place. The second was that he knew he couldn't kill me but he wanted to inflict the most pain he could think of to me in the worst way possible."

"And that was?" Yang asked.

Teresa turned to Yang. "Yang cover your sister's ears. I do not want her hearing this part of the story till I'm ready to tell her myself." She said coldly.

Yang nodded and covered Ruby's ears with her hands. Teresa continued her tale in detail earning a mix of shocked and angry looks from everyone. Yang now knew why Teresa didn't want Ruby to hear that part. After a few moments she nodded to Yang and she removed her hands from Ruby's head.

"What happened?" Ruby asked.

"We will not repeat what Teresa told us." Hunter said trying to hold back his anger. The plastic fork in his hand snapped but he could care less about it.

Ruby looked at her sister and saw Yang's eyes were a deep crimson red and her hair was ready to burst into flames at any second.

Teresa coughed to get their attention before returning to her story. "Before he could fully commit the act, Clare snuck up behind him and struck him with a stick she found. From the wound she caused on the man she must have used all of her strength in that one attack. The man turned to her and struck her down. He continued to attack her until I held his sword I stole from him to his neck. He tried to worm his way out of my threat but I dug deeper and told him that it was my choice whether I broke the rules or not. The man then ran off back to the rest of his group.

All of Team SPHR, Nora and Yang grinned at the thought of Teresa putting the fear of god into the man.

"I reached down to help Clare up off the ground and like usual, she clung to me. At that moment something happened that I would never forget. Clare spoke for the first time since I met her. She saw a wound that I had for some time and asked me about it. I told her about it then she said some words that I will never forget even after I die."

"What did she say?" Pyrrha asked.

"The words she said was 'From the moment I first saw you, you've looked so sad. Your face shows so much pain. Your eyes are like mine. You looked so sad, so hurt, so lonely… as if you couldn't stand it.' I realized that when we first met she wasn't clinging to me for her comfort but it was for me. A few other things happened. But the most important thing to me was that the little girl I was taking care of, who was not even half my size, taught me that tears can flow from these silver eyes of mine."

Everyone nodded in sympathy and a few of them had tears in their eyes.

"The next day we arrived in town and I did a bit of shopping to get Clare some new clothes before doing my job of hunting down the Yoma that was there. I managed to find and kill the Yoma with little effort. I met with the town's chief and asked him if he knew any families that could take in Clare to help raise her. Clare was a bit upset about this and she fought with me, but I made her a promise. I promised her that every chance I could get, I would come back and see her. We said our goodbyes and she watched me leave the town."

"Just wondering, where is Rokut?" Weiss asked.

"That doesn't matter anymore, Weiss. An hour after I left Rokut, the same bandits I ran into rode past me towards the town. The town's chief told me they had nowhere to go due to the fact they were surrounded by mountains. Fearing the worst I ran back to the town to find everyone killed. As I was about to confront the bandit's leader and saw the same man who attacked me was dragging Clare by her hair and her entire face was covered in blood. That man noticed me and began to taunt me. He said he would do the same thing to her that he tried to do to me while enjoying Clare scream my name. That's what sent me over the edge. People like that are lower than Yoma and Grimm. I broke the rule and killed every single one of those bandits. Because both me and Clare were the only survivors of that town. Rokut burnt to the ground from the fires that the bandits lit."

"Well I'm glad those bandits are dead." Jaune said while getting a few nods from everyone at the table.

"Me too, Jaune." Teresa said "But both me and Clare were now on the run. The group I worked for, known as the Organization, were now hunting us both down and even sent their top warriors to kill me and capture Clare. We managed to keep them off out trail for a few weeks before their hunters managed to catch up with us. I managed to fight them off for the most part but through some trickery they managed to defeat me and capture Clare."

"Oh no." Pyrrha said as she covered her mouth with her hands.

Teresa smiled at them all. "But there is hope in this. Before they could kill me, Ruby, Yang. Your grandmother and a friend of hers rescued me. I planned on getting Clare back immediately but I was severely injured and needed time to heal. Emilia Rose and her friend agreed to help me get Clare back and Emilia's friend managed to help me fake my death to keep pressure off of Clare and make them think I was gone for good. A bit after we made our plans Emilia asked me to teach Ruby here how to sense Grimm like the both of us could if she never made it back from a mission and handed me that letter for Ruby and Yang's father."

"What about Clare? What happened to her? Ruby asked.

"Your Grandmother's friend has found her alive but she is living the life I used too. I received word of this two days ago. He is trying to find a way to get her out without the Organization hunting her down. Besides, I'm fulfilling my promise to Emilia to teach you how to sense Grimm after she did so much for me." Teresa said as she finished her story. "Is there any questions?"

"What's a Yoma?" Blake asked narrowing her eyes slightly.

"Yoma are creatures that feed on people." Teresa explained "They are an extremely weaker version of an Awakened but they average in strength somewhere between an Alpha Beowolf and an Ursa Major. Do you all remember what Rosemary looked like before she transformed any bit of herself?"

The three teams nodded as Nora spoke up. "Yeah, She looked like a normal human being."

"That there lies the problem with Yoma and Awakened Beings. When they are hiding in public, they can look just like normal people, even talk like a normal person and only when they grow hungry is when they show their true nature."

Hunter shuddered at the thought of what almost happened to him. Teresa noticed this and decided to give him some good news.

"Don't worry about fighting an Awakened. Those that are just as strong as Rosemary or stronger are rare among Awakened Beings. Also, an Awakened rarely appears and we mostly killed them all." she explained.

"We? Wait there's more people like you?" Ruby asked with stars in her eyes.

"Well yes, there is forty seven of us that 'graduate' each generation and I was part of the seventy seventh generation." Teresa finished as she got up from the table with her empty tray of food. "I have to go and prepare for tomorrow morning's class. I hope my lessons will be helpful for you all."

With that Teresa returned the empty tray to where it was supposed to go and left the building.

"Well that was an emotional roller coaster." Shade stated.

"I have to agree with you there." Hunter said before finishing off his food.

"I can't believe she slaughtered all those bandits." Weiss said with wide eyes.

"Believe it or not, Teresa isn't the first person to do something like that." Shade remarked. "I have heard of stories before where groups kidnapped the children of what they thought were your everyday average person and demanded a ransom or do that 'act' to the children. Problem was that the parents fell into one of four categories. They were people who were either highly trained in the military or as a Huntsman, very rich and powerful, a cop who had years of training, or was just your average person who went over the edge and tracked down the group themselves. They did whatever it took to get their family back and most of the time, those that got their children back knew where the bodies were buried without anyone knowing."

"Didn't something like that happen to LaRue's three kids?" Hunter asked.

"Yeah it did. She was lucky that she and her partner didn't get kicked out of the program." Shade commented.

"What did they do?" Jaune asked with a bit of fear in his eyes.

"They took a powerful mech that they trained for years to use and went and tracked down LaRue's kids that were kidnapped by a cartel who wanted the mech. Instead of giving it to them, they used her to wipe out the cartel and rescued the kids. Because the military didn't want anyone knowing about the mech, they hid the mech away and made it seem like it was just another military raid." Shade explained, but that last part wasn't true. The incident where the Mark-4 Jaeger Hydra Corinthian, took down a powerful mexican cartel made headline news until the Kaiju attack that happened five weeks later back on Earth.

"As my aunt told me, 'Never kidnap a mech pilot's kids, unless you want to be turned into paste.'" Shade finished.

Nora snickered as she didn't even try to hide the huge evil grin on her face.

"Well guys!" Ruby said as she got up from the table. "Enough of this doom and gloom. Lets go explore Beacon and see what it has instore for us." And with that the group put their empty breakfast trays away and went out to explore Beacon Academy.

[...]

A/N: I had a bit of trouble trying to figure out how to write this filler chapter and I remembered I forgot to add the part where Jad calls Blake in at the end of the last chapter. My bad.

Yeah, Jad and Dahlia are both my OC's that I made to help fill in some major plot holes that I found while figuring out the timeline for this story. They will make their official appearance later in the story.

Also a few exciting things happened as I was writing this chapter. First was for all you Team Fortress 2 fans out there, NISLT has returned to youtube after so many years. He even posted a new video today 3 hours before I finished this chapter as well.

The other thing that happened was that Alan Walker posted his new song today and I enjoyed listening to it while writing this chapter.

Anywho, I hope you all enjoyed this new chapter and please leave reviews I love reading them.

BN: Mostly just a few grammar edits. Overall the story is going well, and I'm excited for when it really kicks into high gear.


	11. Classes begin

**A/N: People! Lots of announcements after the chapter most good news as well.**

[...]

It was the day classes started at Beacon Academy. The early morning sun shone through the curtains of team RWBY's dorm. Three of the team members continued to slumber until a shrill sound blasted through everyone's ears.

"GAH!" Weiss cried out before jolting her body up and accidentally hitting her head hard on the bottom on Ruby's bed. She hissed in pain as she grabbed her head while crawling out of bed. "Ruby! Do you even know what time it is!? Also, where did you get another whistle!"

"Yeah Rubes, we kinda got rid of the last one." Yang said irritably as she remembered Blake using Gambol Shroud to slice up the last whistle, herself using Ember Celica to blow up the pieces and Weiss using Myrtenaster to burn what was left. Blake just groaned in her bed while trying to cover her entire head with her pillows.

"Come on Team! Today is the official first day of classes." Ruby said excitedly as she pulled out her scroll to show the class schedules. "First off we have Awakened studies at Nine. Oh! That's Teresa's class. Then we have Grimm studies at Ten. History at Eleven. We break for lunch at Noon. Extracurriculars at One. We are going to be choosing our own classes for that one. Combat 101 at Two. Science at Three. And Study Hall at Four."

"That sounds interesting," Weiss said holding back her rage "but I don't see why you had to wake us up this early in the morning!"

"Well, Yang does have a habit of taking an extra-long time cleaning her hair. It might take longer than usual today so I woke you guys up so we all can be able to use the shower before classes." Ruby explained.

"Fine, at least I…" Weiss was cut off by the sound of the bathroom door clicking shut. She looked around the room and noticed the blonde brawler was missing. "XIAO LONG!"

[...]

"Sounds like team RWBY's awake." Shade stated as he walked out of his team's bathroom wearing his new school uniform.

"I know it's time for everyone to get up and prepare for classes, but couldn't Weiss be a bit more quiet about it?" Petra asked as she grabbed her school uniform and a towel.

"I doubt it, but maybe her team will be able to prevent it from happening again." Rona said as she looked at her scroll. Both she and Hunter had taken turns using the shower and gotten dressed while Shade was out for his normal run.

"That may take a while." Hunter stated "It takes some time for some teams to get along. Other times it may not even happen at all."

"Where did you learn that?" Petra asked.

"From the guy who runs the military where my aunt works." Shade said answering Petra's question for Hunter. In all honesty, Shade was wondering what the Marshall was doing right now.

"Hopefully, it will be sooner rather than later. Scuse me." Petra said as she slipped past Shade and closed the bathroom door.

Shade's scroll beeped as a text appeared. He looked at the message and noticed that it was the team's class schedule. "Hey, guys. Class schedules are in." Shade announced.

"Anything good?" Petra's voice sounded through the door.

"If you count Awakened studies as our first-class then maybe," Shade responded. A loud thump was heard coming from the bathroom.

"Petra are you okay?" Hunter called out to his teammate.

"Yeah, I'm fine. The floor is a bit wet, that's all." She replied.

"If something worse happens let us know so we can send Rona in after you," Shade responded.

He turned back to the rest of his team and noticed Rona had stiffened up a bit. He knew what was going on. Both he and Hunter had training from the Jaeger program not to ever freeze up in any situation, but he doubted that either Rona or Petra had any of that kind of training. He just hoped that one of their classes would give them the skill. And maybe one day, no one would ever hear the word Awakened and be brought down by fear.

Shade cleared his throat to gain everyone's attention again. "Well, we also have a few other classes focused around Grimm and combat. Other than that, there are some usual school classes."

"Well, I doubt it will be as hard as the Academy." Hunter added.

"The only thing we have done that can compare how hard that place is when we did the initiation the day before. And that's without Banshee." Shade deadpanned.

"Yeah, if she was here we would have turned Rosemary into a paste." Hunter said while imagining Rosemary being blown up by Diamond Banshee's plasma cannon.

"What kind of semblance does she have that can do that sort of damage?" Rona asked.

Hunter burst out laughing while Shade tried to keep it within himself. After a few moments, Shade got his emotions under control enough to answer Rona's question.

"Actually, Banshee is not a person. She's a mech that my aunt built for me and Hunter." he explained.

"Oh." Rona simply said while trying to hide the embarrassment on her face.

"That's okay Rona. Everyone asks who Diamond Banshee is whenever we bring her up." Hunter said.

"Hopefully in the future, we can show her to both of you." Shade said.

"Yeah! I definitely want to see her if she could take out that Awakened with ease." Petra called out from the shower.

Hunter tried to hold back a grin that Rona seemed to notice.

"What's so funny?" she asked.

"Oh, I'm just imagining the looks you both will have when you see her." Hunter responded.

"By all means, Diamond Banshee and her brothers and sisters are not normal mechs." Shade explained, "They are literally in a league of their own."

"Really?"

"Yeah, but we are not going to say what they look like. That will ruin the surprise." Shade said ending the conversation.

About fifteen minutes later, Petra walked out of the bathroom wearing her new school uniform and they all headed to the cafeteria to grab some breakfast.

[...]

After breakfast, team SPHR entered their first class where they saw Weiss berating Yang for taking too long to finish her shower. Yang just ignored her. Shade noticed Teresa's claymore being held in a silver and gold weapon display case near her teacher's desk. As they all sat down, Teresa began her first lesson as a professor.

"Please take your seats so we may begin." Teresa said as the few students who were still standing took their respective seats. She surveyed the class, then turned and wrote 'Yoma and Awakened Beings' on the whiteboard. Teams RWBY, JNPR and SPHR tensed while the rest of the class looked on with nervousness after hearing about what had happened in the initiation. "In this class, I will tell you all about these creatures, their entire history, how to recognize one and how to kill them. I will not tolerate any disturbances in this class. Are there any questions?"

A hand raised in the middle-lower right row. "Yes miss NIkos?" Teresa asked.

"I was wondering, the woman that we… fought, she was an Awakened being? And why did she look so human-like until she turned into that monster?"

"Yes miss Nikos. That woman was known as Rosemary, and yes, she was an Awakened. To answer why she looked human, was the fact that she once was human."

Murmurs sounded from the class at this information. A human that can turn into a monster? Some of the more racist students were angered by this, considering that they were living with not only Faunus but these things as well.

Another hand was raised. "Yes miss Belladonna?

"Professor, how can we tell if one is a Yoma or an Awakened, and how do we tell them apart from regular humans and Faunus?" Blake asked, hiding her suspicions and fear for the new professor.

"The difference is largely relevant as you can see." Teresa turned and drew a common Yoma on the board. Teresa wasn't a bit surprised she could draw so well. Her family taught her some art skills before they died and she became a claymore. She would often draw in the dirt or sand while resting between missions. "A Yoma is normally seen as a normal person. However, they will change when they are about to feast. Usually on unwary people, more commonly families. They can consume a loved one then disguise themselves as that person. If given the chance they will kill." as she finished drawing, the students saw a detailed sketch of a common Yoma. it was no different than a regular human or faunus but the eyes, ears, and teeth were a lot different. The body looked a bit distorted as well with longer arms and legs. The torso had a bit more muscle than there should be.

Shocked looks from the students appeared on their faces as they looked at the sketch. Many thoughts ran through their minds. Team CRDL, on the other hand, scoffed at this.

"Well teach. If they can disguise themselves, how can we know?"

"That is where I come in, mister Winchester. Here I will train all of you to know and how to fight them." Teresa announced it to the class. "A fair warning though. Unlike the Grimm, they do have an aura, and thus they have a soul." as she said this, shocked and angered cries sounded around the class.

"Enough!" Teresa shouted.

"What! Hell No! There's no way those things have souls!" a student called out followed by many affirmatives from a few others.

"If that would be all, I will explain why." Teresa turned and drew tears flowing down the face of the Yoma. "When a Yoma consumes a person to disguise as them, they consume the mind and take over the body of that person. By doing so they access to the aura of the body and soul that is not their own, though fortunately, they will not have access to the victim's semblance. When this happens the Yoma corrupts the body enough for transformation so they have to change bodies quite a few times. But inside the soul still fights. There have been many reports and my own eyes have seen that when a Yoma attacks and kills a family of their host. The host's souls make the Yoma release tears in a way of asking forgiveness. Most Yoma notice this and use it to taunt living loved ones."

The entire class fell silent.

Teresa turned back to the board and began drawing Rosemary's awakened form. "Awakened Beings are on a different scale altogether. They are more reclusive and rarer than Yoma, as you all have seen a few days ago that woman was one of them. They are resistant to most conventional means of firepower, and as such, it is wise not to fight them alone unless you can gage their power and have experience with taking down one yourself. Still, it would be foolish."

"Awakened Beings have a more different form. Each one is different from the last. While one can look like any creature you wish would not exist," Teresa said pointing at the sketch of Rosemary's Awakened form. "There are others that can look more humanoid in appearance." Teresa drew a rough sketch of Priscilla's Awakened form that she remembered before arriving in the void. After she finished she pointed directly at it and the tone in her voice turned very cold. "This one here is still alive, and if you ever see it, pray she hasn't caught your scent. if she has, and if you don't have a teleportation semblance, she will kill you before you have time to realize it. She is known as Priscilla, and holds the title of strongest and deadliest Awakened of them all."

The entire class fell deathly silent. Just one look at the sketch of Priscilla's Awakened form felt like death itself was grasping onto their souls. One student managed to get a few words out to ask a single and most important question.

"H…how d...does one detect them?"

"You feel an energy that is produced by them. The name for it is called Yoki."

"Yoki?" a third student asked.

"Yoki is, for a better term, a corrupted version of Aura," Teresa explained. "It cannot protect the user, but it can grant strength at an extremely terrible cost. Besides Yoma and Awakened Beings, what other creatures produce Yoki from their bodies?"

"The Grimm?" a random faunus student asked.

"That is correct. Like Yoma and Awakened Beings, Grimm produce yoki from their bodies. This can be beneficial and harmful in its own ways. Now, who here can tell me what those are exactly?"

"One way I see it is that the more Yoki a Grimm has the stronger they are." Petra answered.

"That is correct miss Brown. Can anyone tell me the positives of this is?"

The whole class fell silent as no one could come up with an answer. Ruby and Yang stayed silent even though they believed they knew the answer. Then Blake raised her hand.

"Yes miss Belladonna?"

"It makes Grimm visible to those who can sense Yoki." Blake answered.

"That is correct. Those that can sense Yoki in Grimm, Yoma, and Awakened Beings have a greater chance of survival. Yoki has a way of revealing itself in one form or another. Those that can normally sense it can feel attacks coming their way and how many opponents they are facing. Then there are those who have the acute Yoki sensing ability." Teresa explained.

"What do you mean by that professor Silver?" Ren asked.

"Those who have the acute sensing ability can read the energy in their opponents and will be able to dodge most attacks before they even happen."

Team CRDL scoffed at this. "Yeah right, there is no way anyone could do any of that." Cardin laughed.

"Believe it or not, Mister Winchester, right now in this very room, there are two people who can sense Yoki."

"Who are they then?" Cardin challenged.

"Myself for one can sense Yoki and I have trained this skill for a long time. I have relied upon it for most of my life, as my Aura had been sealed until recently. And yes, I have trained this skill to the point where I have the acute sensing ability."

"Who is the other person?" Nora asked looking at everyone in the class trying to find the person first.

"Umm, that would be me." Ruby said meekly raising her hand up a bit.

Nora's eyes went wide in surprise. "That explains so~ much." she said holding the sides of her head.

Teresa chuckled softly at this.

"Now, those who will have this talent usually learn it in their early to mid-teens." Teresa continued. "Is there anyone here that knows of any others who has this ability?"

Blake slowly raised her hand. "I have a family member who can sense Yoki in Grimm."

"And who in your family has that skill?" Teresa asked.

"My younger brother." Blake responded.

"And how would you rate his ability from what you know?"

"Very sensitive to it."

Teresa nodded then turned back to the rest of the class. "Now would anyone else like to add in their own knowledge or opinions about this?"

"This class is complete and utter crap," Dove said with the rest of his team agreeing with him. "Where's the proof that someone can do any of that?"

Half of the entire class stared at team CRDL with a few of them giving them disappointing looks or just outright glared at them.

Teresa remembered professor Goodwitch's warning about troublemakers with new teachers. But she didn't expect it to be this soon. She thought for a moment and decided a bit of humility would be the best form of punishment. That and report them to professor Goodwitch that they may be a future problem.

"Team CRDL, I believe you want proof to go with this lesson. Am I correct?"

All four of them nodded confidently with smug looks on their faces.

"This is going to be good." Yang whispered to her team.

Teresa pulled up the class projector and dimmed the lights to the classroom. She was glad that the day before, Ozpin had shown her how to use the entire classroom to teach her lessons.

"This was recording was taken one week ago. Miss Rose, before you ask, yes it is that recording. This was three months of training after discovering the ability to sense Yoki in Grimm."

Teresa pulled up a video and pressed play. It was a recording of Ruby's final test that Teresa gave her before Beacon. The entire class watched as the video showed Ruby take down the entire pack of Beowolves without her sight and hearing. Only relying on her new sixth sense.

Ruby watched carefully as she watched herself take out the pack trying to figure out what she did wrong and what she could improve upon. Near the end of the video she noticed that when she was about to shoot the last Beowolf, it had noticed her take aim and tried to move out of the way. Ruby adjusted her aim and tracked it for a few seconds before shooting it in the arm. When she got close it tried to move its head out of the way and again Ruby adjusted her aim, tracking the Beowolf's movement and then killing it with the final shot. After that, the video ended and everyone except Yang, Shade, and Hunter stared in shock at Ruby.

Teresa cleared her throat to gather everyone's attention.

"As you can see, Miss Rose here relied on only her new sixth sense as her hearing and sight were completely sealed up. Even making minor to major adjustments to make sure she could defeat the Grimm despite the handicap," she explained. "Are there any more questions?"

A hand rose amongst the student. "Yes, Miss Ebony?"

"How are we able to find out if a Yoma or Awakened is in the area if we can't sense Yoki?" Rona asked.

Teresa sighed for a moment then continued her lesson. "Normally if you can't detect Yoki, there are only two other known ways to find out if there is a Yoma or Awakened in an area. The first is usually found out by accident. When either a Yoma or Awakened gets injured and starts to bleed, they will try to hide the fact their blood is not the normal crimson in color but a deep amethyst purple. If they are trying to hide the color of their blood and look normally healthy in any way else, most of the time they will be a Yoma or an Awakened in disguise. The other way is to know the telltale signs that always gives them away."

"Telltale signs?" Weiss asked.

"We will use a normal sized village for an example. Anything bigger will make it harder to see the signs." Teresa explained. "If a villager is suddenly found dead with their body mauled by what looks like a Grimm attack, then it would be just a normal Grimm unless the person's entire organs were consumed and the rest was just left. That's when you can start looking for a Yoma. If a second body turns up in a similar state to the first, then that's when you start checking others. This will always happen until the Yoma or Awakened is killed. Once it feasts, it will feast again. Another telltale sign is when someone's normal healthy appetite suddenly stops out of nowhere and the bodies start appearing. An Awakened or a Yoma won't normally eat regular food and will at periods stop eating altogether while in disguise."

A few of the students muttered to each other while Teresa let the information sink in. After a few moments she began again.

"There are a few ways to flush a Yoma or Awakened out. The first method has not been used for some time and I would rather that no one here ever does so. The method is to gather a family and board them up in a home for three days."

"But that's…"

"Yes Miss Rose, doing this would sacrifice a family or two. But this method has been abandoned long ago for the results have caused more harm than good. For instance, the Yoma could kill the entire family. There can be survivors, but they will be either injured and bleed to death or be treated as they were a Yoma themselves. Causing said survivors to be either killed or to be thrown out into the wilderness with no means of survival. Most times this happens to children of the sacrificed families."

"Why would anyone do that?" a student asked.

"Mostly out of fear and lack of knowledge." Teresa said sadly then remained quiet for a few moments.

"Is there something wrong professor?" Weiss asked.

"I'm sorry. I was remembering an unpleasant memory from my childhood. Now, after that method was abandoned, the second way to find a Yoma in hiding is for everyone in a village to have a small sample of their own blood to be drawn. For this to work, it must be held in public and no one can be absent. Those that fail this test are a Yoma and the town will kill them on the spot. As I have mentioned before, Yoma and Awakened beings can't hide or change their true blood color. Any questions?"

A few students asked a few questions here and there. As the class came to a close, Teresa finished her lesson by explaining the different types of Yoma and her theory that Faunus could be able to sense Awakened beings due to their natural instincts are greater than an average humans.

[...]

The next class was not as eventful as either Shade or Hunter had hoped. Most of the first year students that were in Teresa's first class had Grimm studies next and the teacher, professor Port, was simply rambling on about his heroic acts as a young man.

"...despite smelling of cabbages…" Shade only caught bits and pieces of the lecture, most of his attention was spent trying to find the logic in the weapon mounted on the wall.

A blunderbuss ax?! How does one aim with that thing?! Shade thought.

His train of thought was suddenly interrupted when Weiss shouted, "I Do Sir!"

"What just happened? Shade asked.

He turned to see Hunter asleep on his desk.

"I'll figure it out later." Shade said to himself as he watched Weiss leave to change into her combat attire and retrieve her weapon. A few minutes later Weiss returned ready for a fight.

"How did he get that thing in here?!" Hunter asked as he apparently woke up while Weiss was changing.

Shade looked to the left side of the class to see a cage of some kind. "Ok, what?!"

"Oh! It's a Boarbatusk." Ruby said gleefully. "Weiss! Go for its belly, there's no armor-"

"Stop telling me what to do and let me concentrate!" Weiss snapped.

Ouch. Shade thought. Granted he had argued with Hunter if he ever interfered with his training program or tried to mess with their Jaeger, but Weiss was just being rude!

Before anything else could happen, professor Port grabbed his blunderbuss ax and hacked off the lock to the cage. A Boarbatusk slammed into the door and rushed out towards Weiss, only for her to fend it off. After a few minutes of fighting, with Weiss yelling at Ruby even as she was trying to give her decent advice and encouragement, she finally stabbed the Boarbatusk in the belly and killed it.

"Haha! Well done miss Schnee. Well class, it seems we are indeed in the presence of a true huntress in training." professor Port stated.

[...]

History was next, and it was being taught by Dr. Oobleck, who was talking so fast that barely anyone could even understand him.

"Asyoucanseestudentshistoryisextremelyimportantinoursosciety! Any questions?" he asked as he took a sip from his thermos

Hunter slowly raised his hand.

"Yes! Mr. Green! What do you ask?"

What kind of coffee are you drinking?"

The room was dead silent.

"Decaffeinated. Moving on!"

[...]

After history class was over everyone gathered in the cafeteria to grab their lunch and discussed the day so far and wondered what their future classes are going to be like.

"So Ruby have you decided on what your extra curricular class is going to be?" Shade asked.

"Some sort of engineering class," Ruby said. "I have a bit of a quirk when it comes to designing and making weapons."

"Well I want to see if they have any culinary courses here." Hunter said as he finished off his lunch.

"Ooh! We should do that too Ren!" Nora said excitedly.

Ren simply smiled and nodded.

"That sounds interesting, I might join you guys as well," Yang added. "What about you Shade?"

"I was thinking of some sort of literary class."

"Mind if I join you?" Blake asked.

"Not at all."

"Hey Weiss? What class are you taking?" Ruby asked.

"I'm going to be in the Beacon choir. Knowing how good I am, I know their going to give me a lead singing role." Weiss said confidently with a smug grin on her face. Shade noticed the grin and for some reason it irritated him a lot.

"Jaune? Pyrrha? What are you two going to choose?" Yang asked.

"Well umm… I was thinking of taking some parenting classes." Pyrrha said a bit embarrassed.

"Oh? Come on! Tell us why you're taking that class! Do you have some secret love child we don't know about?" Nora feverishly asked her teammate.

About half the group did a spit take while Ren just facepalmed.

"Nora!? Seriously!?" Yang asked.

"I could think of a hundred reasons to take that class and that was not one of them." Blake responded.

"Actually, I want to retire from my celebrity status when I graduate. Because of that I developed very few life skills and I don't want that to hold me back when I plan on raising a family in the future." Pyrrha calmly tried to explain as she covered her face with her hands.

"Ohh," Ruby said.

"I think I'll join you Pyrrha." Jaune said as he placed his hand on her shoulder trying to help her ease out of her embarrassment.

After a few moments, Pyrrha finally calmed down and faced Rona and Petra. "So, what classes are you two taking?"

"I was thinking of joining Ruby in an engineering class." Petra responded. "It's good to have a skill if I'm forced to take an early retirement from being a Huntress."

"I was thinking of some sort of arts and crafts class but I'm not entirely sure." Rona said as she finished her lunch.

A few moments later the bell rang and everyone separated to head to their classes.

[...]

An hour later they all met back up in professor Goodwitch's class and things were going a bit differently.

Yang and Petra were selected to face each other in a one on one match and they seemed to be enjoying themselves.

Petra activated her semblance and slammed her fist into Yang's abdomen, sending her flying back a few feet. When Yang landed, she had a grin on her face as her own semblance activated. Yang's changed from their normal lilac color to a deep crimson and her hair ignited with flame like aura. Yang reached back and fired Ember Celica, launching herself forward. She slammed her fist into Petra's stomach and sent her flying into the back wall. When Petra landed her Aura dropped into the red.

"Peta Brown's aura has entered the red zone, Yang Xaio Long takes the match." professor Goodwitch announced.

Yang walked over and helped Petra off the ground.

"Not bad. You almost had me there." Yang said with a smile.

"Not bad yourself," Petra said with a smirk as she dusted herself off.

After that they shook hands and walked back to their teams.

"Good job Petra, you almost had her." Hunter complimented.

"Thanks, you're right, I almost beat her at the end but…" she paused "She just seemed to get stronger with that last hit."

"That may be due to her semblance," Hunter stated "kinetic energy absorption and transfer. The harder you hit, the harder she hits back."

"How did you know that?" Petra asked.

"That's… kind of a long story." Hunter said avoiding the question.

"Did you two… date?" Petra asked with a smirk on her face.

"What?! No!" Hunter exclaimed.

"I can back him up on that one, him and Yang were never a thing." Shade said. "She's too good for him"

"Thanks buddy." Hunter said feeling a bit dejected.

Shade let out a bit of a chuckle.

[...]

After classes were over, Shade was walking down one of the many halls in Beacon when he noticed Weiss walking towards one of the balconies outside.

"Hey Weiss! Wait up!" He shouted trying to get her attention.

She turned to see Shade catching up to her.

"Hello Shade, what do you want?" she asked.

"I was wondering, why were you yelling at Ruby durring professor Port's class?" he asked.

"Why do you care? You don't look like you're related to her." Weiss stated.

"True enough, but she, Yang, their dad, and professor Silver helped me and my partner out when we didn't know where else to turn," he said. He wasn't lying, the four of them had helped them both out.

"What could have been so bad that you didn't have anywhere else to turn?" she asked skeptically.

"Well, when you wake up on the beach with no aura, enough wounds to kill someone and your still alive…" he trailed off realizing he was treading into dangerous territory.

Weiss blinked as she processed the information. Had her leader really helped someone from the brink of death?

"Look, don't get me wrong, Ruby is anything but mature, but you should still show some respect." Shade said.

"I still don't get why I wasn't considered an option as the team leader instead of her." Weiss stated.

"Well, I can think of multiple reasons, for one your team name wouldn't make any sense if it was spelled W-R-B-Y would it?" he asked. "Another reason is the plan she came up with during the initiation and delivered the final blow to that Awakened. And then, from what I've seen, your a spoiled brat who's gotten everything she's ever wanted, without fail, until now."

Weiss blinked, again, before going slack-jawed, "That's not at all true!... Mostly…" She trailed off.

"Look, I don't know what it was like for you. But I never had it easy, my parents died when I was five and I was raised by my adoptive aunt." he said "Being the leader isn't easy, and I doubt Ruby knows what she's doing. I know someone who was a leader in the military and he hates his job, but he has to do it."

In all honesty, Shade was wondering what everyone back on earth was doing now.

"I may not seem like it, but I might have grown up to be like you had my parents not died when I was so young." he said "My point is, the biggest reason Ozpin didn't make you leader was so that you could be humbled, you have no idea what it's like to follow."

The two of them stood there quietly for several seconds before Weiss finally spoke up.

"How are you so good at this?" she asked.

"At what?" Shade asked back.

"You just single handedly convinced me to put trust into an immature dolt, while at the same time made it make sense," she stated, "and I still have one other question."

"And that would be?"

"Why are you defending Ruby? Granted you said she saved your life, but the way you defended her seems like you know her more personally than that," she asked.

Shade paused, He had no idea why he was defending her. She wasn't even on his team and they only knew each other for a few weeks.

"I don't know," he answered.

"Hm… I suppose that's a fair answer." Weiss said.

"Just like that? You're just going to accept my answer like that?" he asked.

"Well, I am going to try and get the other end of the story." she stated before walking off.

Shade sighed as he looked passed the balcony towards the center of Beacon.

I wonder what other surprises this year will bring. He thought.

[...]

Meanwhile, in the land of Lautrec, A young claymore faced her handler. As she pulled out a Black Card and handed it to him.

"Please give this to her and only her. She's the only one who can do it." the woman said with sorrow in her voice.

"Very well." Rubel said holding the Black card "where do you want her to meet you?"

"Mount Shire. That is where I will meet her." the young woman said.

Rubel nodded and turned to leave. "Try to hold on till she gets there." he said before disappearing into the woods.

The young woman turned and headed towards her final destination unknowingly that her future was about to change forever.

[...]

**A/N: Ok ok. I know that I'm late with this chapter but multiple things have distracted me as of late. A lot of good stuff.**

**First off I will say this. Earlier this month the doctors officially ruled that I am now in remission after 19 months and 1 day after being diagnosed with leukemia. Which i'm happy about.**

**Second, on runescape they announced the upcoming new skill archaeology and i've been trying to max my skills before the new skill is released in january. Very close as well.**

**On another game im playing right now, Ark survival evolved, the Halloween event is live and lots of stuff is happening there.**

**Lastly, with this new chapter, the part where LordMesirix's story has stopped and he has yet to continue his story, so from this point forward all parts involving elements from the claymore universe are all my own design and again special THANK YOU to LordMesirix for allowing me to use his story in my own and having it start off this timeline.**

**Also the next two chapters are of my own design and after that the third crossover will finally appear in the story.**

**Looking forward to writing this next part. Hope you all enjoyed.**

**BN: Did a bunch of editing and grammar clean up. A lot of this chapter brings me back to when I was writing JAG, and I'm happy to keep working on this one!**


	12. The Silver Eyed Girl

**A/N: Before I start this chapter off I want to thank Pokeman1280 for officially becoming this story's second beta reader.**

**[...]**

Lautrec, Mount Shire. Twelve days later. 1:17 PM.

Two people, a claymore and her traveling companion were traversing the rocky mountain to reach their goal.

"Hey Clare, can I ask you something?" the young boy asked, "Are we going after a yoma?"

"No, Raki." Clare responded, "My job today is to put to rest someone you would call a Claymore."

"Eh? But why one of your own? Why do you have to do that?"

"You do know that we're half yoma, right?"

"Well, yeah." Raki answered a bit confused as to why Clare mentioned that.

"In our bodies, we hold the power of a yoma and control it with our human minds, which preserves our identities." Clare began to explain. "We're basically monsters with human heads. That's what they mean by 'half-human, half yoma.' Even though we are half yoma, we side with humans and kill yoma. We are humankind's greatest weapon. Before we existed, humans were powerless against yoma. But by using the yoma's own power, they could finally defeat them. However, there is one big drawback. Those using the yoma's power could eventually become full-blown monsters."

"But, that means…" Raki said a bit stunned.

"If we lived like normal people, it wouldn't be a problem. But the more we use the yoma's strength and abilities, the closer we are to becoming monsters. There's a tug-of-war between our human minds and our yoma bodies. At some point, the human mind breaks down and we turn into full-fledged yoma. To prevent that from happening, the Organization has a plan."

Clare reached into a hidden pocket in her claymore uniform and pulled out a black envelope.

"We use this. It's called a Black Card," she said as she handed the envelope to Raki. He opened the envelope to find a black card inside with another claymore's emblem on it, extremely similar to Clare's with only slight variations.

"This is like the symbol around your neck and on your sword," he said a bit surprised.

"That's right," Clare responded as she reached for her claymore. "When we're sent out to work, we're given each a unique emblem. It represents our name and identifies us within the Organization. And the hilts of our swords carry a black card." She pulled a piece off the hilt of her claymore and showed Raki her own Black Card.

"When we know that our human mind has reached its limit and we're about to turn into a monster, we chose to die as a human. That is when we send the Black Card to the one we want to be killed by." She finished as she placed her black card back into her sword.

"Then, who sent you this card?" Raki asked, "Do you know them?"

"Her name is Elena. We joined the Organization at the same time. We comforted each other in our darkest hours. When our bodies were transforming and were wracked with pain, we'd hold each other at night so we could sleep." Clare explained.

The sound of a footstep caught their attention and they saw a young Claymore who looked no older than seventeen.

"Hello, Clare. It's been a long time." The young claymore said.

"Elena…" Clare said seeing her friend again. "You haven't changed. You look just like you did back then. I thought you'd be more distorted by now."

"I'm forcing it back so I could meet with you," Elena said sadly. "How long has it been? It feels like ages, but I remember it like it was yesterday. There was so much pain back then, but for some reason, I can only remember the good times. I started this job after you. I never thought I'd end up like this before you did. It's… it's no good." At that moment the veins in her body started to bulge.

"I thought that taking on the yoma's power would give me strength. But to control it, you have to have a strong human heart. So… Please… Hurry! Do it. Do it while mine's still human." Elena cried as tears flowed down her face.

Clare never hesitated. In a split second, she delivered a fatal blow to Elena's body by severing her heart and then caught her friend before she could fall. Clare gently laid Elena on the ground with sorrow in her eyes.

"Thank you, Clare. Now... I can die as a human. I'll say hi... to Teresa... for you..." Elena said before she passed on from the world."

**[...]**

Elena awoke in a lush green field. As she looked around she noticed a very familiar log cabin next to an ancient oak tree. A small creek flowed near the ancient oak with the sounds of small creatures swimming in the warm waters. She knew where she was. She was home. Everything looked like it did before her family was killed by a yoma that had found them. The front door to the cabin opened and a woman with long hazel colored hair walked out with a handwoven basket full of laundry.

"Mom!" Elena cried as she ran towards her mother. Her mom looked up and saw the young claymore. She dropped the basket and embraced her daughter. "I'm sorry for everything. I just wasn't strong enough."

"It's okay Elena, it's okay." her mom said as she stroked the back of her head. "Jacob! Ryan! Ariya! Get out here! Elena's home."

A few moments later Elena's father, older brother and younger sister rushed out of the cabin and quickly embraced her. She noticed they hadn't aged a day since they died, but she wasn't complaining. She was just glad she got to see them again.

"Welcome home, Elena." her father said.

"You definitely got bigger pipsqueak," Ryan said. Elena noticed that she was a few inches taller than her older brother now.

"Yeah, growing up does that to you." Elena responded, "But you're the pipsqueak now since I'm taller than you now."

"What happened to your hair?" Ariya asked innocently.

"Well remember how dad used to tell us about the time he was saved by a Claymore and told us stories about them?" Elena asked.

Ariya nodded and wondered why her sister asked her that.

Elena got up and removed her claymore from the scabbard on her back. She lowered it so her little sister could see. "After you died, I became a Claymore," she explained as she let Ariya touch the emblem on her sword. "When I became a Claymore my hair lost its color and my eyes turned silver."

"That is so cool!" Ariya said with stars in her eyes. "Please tell us some stories of what it's like."

"Well okay," Elena said with a smile as she returned her claymore to its scabbard.

"Why don't we take it inside." Elena's mom suggested.

The whole family nodded and entered the cabin. The inside was just like Elena remembered. The old fireplace that warmed the cabin and cooked their food had an open fire going. The family living room also served as the dining room with a large dining table in the center of the room that her father built and carved himself. An old bookcase rested against the wall near the front door holding her mother's book collection. Her father's gittern was propped up in front of the bookshelf. The gittern brought back many happy memories of when her father would play it and her mother would sing along. Ariya sat down in her usual spot at the family table and patiently waited for the rest of her family to do the same.

"So where do I begin?" Elena asked as she sat down.

"What happened after the yoma attacked us?" Ryan asked.

"When the yoma attacked, I hid under the oak tree for two days before a claymore found me. She killed the yoma and asked me if there were any others. After that, a man in black took me to the Organization where they turned me into a Claymore. The process was the most painful thing I've ever experienced and the pain would last for quite some time." Elena flinched when she remembered the pain she went through as the Organization cut open her body when she was awake.

"That's when I met Clare. She told me a story about a Claymore that rescued her from a yoma and defended her from a group of bandits. Eventually, that Claymore adopted her, but they were on the run because the same group of bandits that attacked Clare were killed by that Claymore." she said sadly.

"For a while, they managed to avoid the Organization, but then the execution squad caught up to them and killed the Claymore. Clare was then taken in by the Organization and turned into a Claymore as well."

"I feel sorry for the girl." Elena's father said.

Elena nodded before continuing her story. "When we were transforming into Claymore's they put us into these cells together so that if anything bad happened we could be contained. Both me and Clare were in one of these cells for almost two years. At nights when the transformation was at its most painful, we would hold each other so that we could sleep."

"I take it you and Clare became close friends?" her mother asked.

"Yes, we were. After we became claymores and received some difficult training. Clare managed to finish hers before I did and became a full-fledged Claymore. After I received my sword and rank, I tried to help as many people as I could. Some people would not even talk to me or were scared of me. After a year of fighting, my powers took a toll on myself so much that I couldn't handle and I knew it was time for me to die. I sent the one person I could trust most the Black Card, which told the person to come and help lay me to rest."

"Who did you send it to?" Ariya asked.

"My only true friend, Clare. When we reunited, we met on mount Shire and Clare had this boy who was just as old as she was when I met her. I believe she was trying to do the same as the Claymore who took her in. after that, I asked her to lay me to rest and she never hesitated. After that, I ended up here." Elena said as she finished her story.

"Well, we are glad you managed to make a friend and you came to visit us." Ryan said before getting a glare from his mother.

"What do you mean, visit?" Elena asked worriedly. Were they going to kick her out or something?

"Well, umm…" before Ryan could answer, three loud knocks came from the front door.

"He is here." Elena's mother said in a calm and collective manner but it had an edge to it that everyone could feel.

"Who's here?" Elena asked as she reached for her claymore.

Her mother just smiled and walked towards the door. A moment later she let a man wearing the familiar purple and white robes of the holy priests of the city of Robona into the cabin. Elena had mixed feelings. She remembered how kind and compassionate the priests were when she was a little girl, but they had a strict rule about claymores.

The man raised his hand and spoke. "Be at ease Elena, I am here to bring good news."

"Who are you and how do you know my name?" she asked.

"My name is Robona, you may have heard of me when you were a little girl." Robona said with a smile.

Elena's eyes widened as she dropped to a knee. "I'm sorry Robona, I didn't recognize you."

"Rise Elena, as I have said I am here to deliver some good news." he looked directly into Elena's silver eyes. "Elena, you have been given a second chance at life and with a purpose. Though it is your choice to take this gift."

Elena was stunned, she didn't know what to say. _A chance at a new life? What did I do to deserve this? What will happen if I take this gift?_ Elena asked herself before asking "Why?"

"I'll explain why I'm giving you this gift." Robona said trying to help clear her confusion. "You were never meant to go through those horrors as a claymore, but through those experiences, you learned to become a protector. Your time was taken from you before you were meant to as well. So I give this gift to all Claymore's who passed before their time."

A tear left Elena's eye. "What will happen if I take this gift?" She asked as she wiped a few more tears from her eyes.

"You will be sent to another world to protect others from a different threat than the yoma. They are creatures called Grimm, beasts made of darkness and yoki. You will not be alone though. You will be able to make friends who will help you in times of need. Unfortunately, you will still remain a Claymore even in this new life, but when you achieve a new power from this world you will never have to worry about becoming a monster ever again." Robona said with a smile before continuing.

"This power is known as Aura, it will protect and heal you in battle. It will also help you discover a second power known as Semblance. Each person's Semblance is different from each other's, very few people have the same Semblance, but everyone has an Aura."

"Is there anything else I need to know?" Elena asked meekly.

He nodded before continuing. "When you arrive, you will still have the stigma on your body, but once you unlock your Aura it will completely heal. Then there is your claymore. It will have the ability to pass through Aura without any resistance. Remember to only use it on those who deserve to be injured by the blade. There is one little request I will ask of you though." he said humbly.

"Request?"

"There is another Claymore in the world I would like to send you. There is a message I would like you to deliver to her." Robona said as he created a letter out of nothingness. "This Claymore now goes by the name Teresa Silver, but you may know her as Teresa of the faint smile."

Elena's eyes widened. If she were to take this gift she would meet the Claymore who adopted her friend Clare.

"If I take this gift, may I request one thing?" she asked.

Robona simply nodded.

"Can I have a few moments to say goodbye to my family?"

"Yes you can, as I have said the choice is yours." he responded.

"Then I accept," Elena said before she turned and hugged her little sister. "I'm sorry I can't stay, I made a promise to my friend and I plan to keep it." She turned to the rest of her family. "I'll see you all again sometime with more stories to tell you all," she said with a smile.

Her mother walked up and quickly gave her a hug as well. "I want to hear all about it when you get back," she said with a smile before it turned into a grin. "Especially my future grandchildren as well."

"MOM! Seriously!" Elena complained.

"Yes! I don't expect to see you back here until after you have a family of your own," she said with a laugh. "Although Elena, I do ask of one thing from you."

"Mom?"

"Don't forget to sing," she said with one final hug.

"Don't worry, I won't forget." Elena said as she returned the hug. All of a sudden the rest of her family joined in the hug and said their own goodbyes. After a few minutes of hugs and tears, they all separated and Elena walked to the front door. Outside, Robona was waiting by the ancient oak tree.

"Are you ready?" he asked.

She looked back one last time and saw her entire family. It would be a long time before she would see them again. She turned back to Robona and nodded her head. "I am ready." she said.

Robona held up his hand and a golden portal began to swirl into existence. Once it finished forming, she could see a lush forest with red tree leaves and grass.

"Once you have contacted either Teresa or a man named Ozpin, they will help you out in this new world." he said as he handed her the letter to Teresa. "There are a few bits of information you should know."

Elena listened closely.

"There have been Yoma and Awakened Beings slipping through to this world by unknown means. Be aware of the Grimm for they will show no mercy. Be on your guard. All of those who have silver eyes, consider them your allies, for they are either Claymores themselves or the descendants of one." Robona warned.

"Thank you Robona for everything." Elena said with a smile as she drew her claymore and walked through the portal."

"One last thing." Robona noted, "Welcome to Remnant." After that, the portal closed.

"Mom? Will Elena be okay?" Ariya asked.

Her mother just smiled. "Elena's strong and she is going to get even stronger from here on out," she said confidently. "Who knows? She may become a hero someday."

**[...]**

Elena looked around and everything was completely new to her. The trees and grass had a deep shade of red to them that held its own unique beauty. There was a hint of a sweet smell in the air. She closed her eyes to try and find where the smell was coming from. That's when she detected the Grimm themselves. Like Robona had warned, yoki radiated off their bodies. The Grimm were close enough to be detected but far enough away not to pose a threat. For now. She reached out and touched a tree only to regret feeling the sticky sap on her hand. As she looked at the red sap the sweet smell hit her nose like a yoma. She took a good whiff of the sap and confirmed that the sap from the trees was what was giving off the smell.

_Strange world._ Elena thought to herself. She reviewed the tasks that were given to her. She was to find and deliver two messages to a former claymore and adoptive parent to her friend Clare, find a man named Ozpin to help get settled in this new world, and finally try and find a way to unlock a new power known as Aura. The only thing that was standing in her way of the goal was these creatures known as Grimm and the yoma and awakened beings that managed to arrive in this world as well. _Sounds simple enough._

The sound of a battle, no, a spar or brawl perhaps, nearby caught Elena's ears. She noticed in a nearby clearing, with four young men no older than herself ganging up on a fifth.

"You know that wasn't very smart, Jaune-y boy." the more built of the four teens said to the fifth after punching him to the ground.

Elena noticed that the guy had the same sticky red sap splashed all over his chest. _He must have spilled some of that sap for that to happen, _she thought.

"I'm gonna make sure they send you back to mommy in teeny, tiny, pieces," the teen said as he picked up Jaune if she was to guess that was his name.

"I don't care what you do to me, but you are not messing with my team Cardin." Jaune said in defiance.

"What, you think big talk like that makes you tough? You think you're a big strong man now?" Cardin said angrily, clearly about to give Jaune another beating.

Jaune simply smiled at him enraging Cardin. As Cardin struck Jaune in the face a bright light erupted from Jaune's body and he dropped Jaune and grasped his fist in pain. This surprised Elena. _Is that Aura?_ She asked herself as she saw the bruises on Jaune's face disappear. One of the other teens kicked Jaune back down to the ground. At the same time, she sensed a large amount of yoki enter the area.

"Let's see how much of a man you really are." Cardin said just before a loud roar rolled over the clearing.

Two very large bears made of darkness and yoki entered the clearing. They were covered in white bone spikes and had a white bone mask with a red pattern on it. Their eyes glowed a deep fiery red. The four teens that were ganging up on Jaune seemed to cower in fear of the two creatures of Grimm. The two Grimm sniffed the air and focused on the sweet smell of the sap on Cardin's chest.

"That's a big Ursa!" one of Cardin's friends shouted as he and the other two ran away into the forest like cowards. One of the Ursa's swiped a paw at Cardin, knocking him down. The second began to focus in on Jaune.

"NOT HAPPENING!" Elena shouted as she rushed out of the forest. She leaped onto the back of the Ursa about to attack Jaune and stabbed through its body with her claymore. It roared in pain and tried to force her off its back.

The distraction gave enough time for Jaune to draw his sword and to Elena's surprise, the scabbard transformed into a shield. Jaune rushed the first Ursa and blocked a strike that was meant to kill the downed Cardin. For a few seconds, Jaune kept the Ursa back before getting the upper hand and forced it back before getting a clean blow with his sword to the Grimm's abdomen.

The Ursa Elena was fighting was surely giving her a hard time. It managed to throw her off and barely gave her a chance to dodge a swipe of its paws. She ducked under and second spaw swipe and managed to sever the Ursa's left arm. The Grimm roared in pain and tried to bring its other paw down on Elena, only for her to block and slice through the Ursa's wrist at the same time.

She knew she had to finish the Grimm as soon as possible or else she couldn't back up Jaune with the other one. Problem was that this Ursa was now using its body to prevent her from delivering a final blow to its head. She had faced a similar problem before when she fought her fourth yoma. Elena swung her claymore into the Ursa's left side in a down to up motion only for it to get stuck inside the lower abdomen of the Ursa. Without thinking, she activated ten percent of her Claymore power. Her eyes transformed from their normal silver to golden with the pupils becoming slits. She gained enough strength to continue slicing through the Ursa up and through its head, effectively killing the Grimm.

Elena turned to see Jaune raise his shield to block an attack from the Ursa. He managed to get in close to swing his sword and deliver a fatal blow by decapitating the Grimm. After the Grimm fell, Jaune turned and noticed Elena smiling at him, but he saw her eyes change from their cat-like golden to normal silver.

"You alright?" Elena asked as she returned her claymore to the scabbard on her back.

"Uh yeah," Jaune said nervously. "My name's Jaune, you?"

"Elena," she said with a comforting smile.

Jaune sheathed his sword and turned his attention to Cardin.

"Holy crap, Jaune?" Cardin said as he was helped back to his feet by both Elena and Jaune.

Jaune turned to glare at Cardin, "Don't ever mess with my team, my friends, ever again." Jaune warned. "Got it?"

"I saw you and your friends gang up on Jaune. From what I have seen, you four are nothing but cowards. You gang up on those you think are weaker than you only to run away in fear when a real threat or someone stronger than you appears." Elena said adding in her own two cents before tossing Cardin his mace. "I recommend changing your ways and you will gain some deep respect. Don't, and you will make many enemies fairly quickly."

Cardin just stood there in silence contemplating everything that happened.

"Umm, Elena? Do you know professor Silver?" Jaune asked. "Your armor and sword look alot like hers."

"Not directly, but I have been sent to deliver two messages to her and then meet with a man named Ozpin." Elena explained.

"And who sent me these messages?" a familiar voice asked.

Jaune and Elena turned to see an older Claymore and three young women, two were her own age and the last was a bit younger. What surprised her was the fact that the youngest had Silver eyes with Black hair that turned red at the tips.

Elena noticed Teresa's emblem and knew that this person was the one she was looking for. She reached for the hidden pocket in her uniform and pulled out Robona's letter.

"And the other message?" Teresa asked as she was handed the letter.

"The other one is a bit more personal." Elena respectfully responded, "Clare says hello."

Teresa's eyes widened a bit. "How do you know my daughter?" she asked.

"Clare was my only friend and she was the one who originally sent me here." Elena explained.

Teresa nodded fully knowing what she meant. "Elena is it? I will have to ask that you follow me. There is more I need to discuss with you and there is another who will need to speak with you as well." She faced the rest of the students. "Ruby, Jaune, will you two go find professor Goodwitch and tell her that it's time to leave. Pyrrha, Weiss, please go tell the rest of the students to pack up as well. Mister Winchester, after we all return to Beacon, you and your team are to report to professor Goodwitch for detention."

"Yes ma'am," they said. Cardin just sighed in defeat.

**[...]**

A few hours later, after much culture shock which Teresa tried to help Elena through and a new pair of clothes that Teresa bought, they both met with professor Ozpin and professor Goodwitch in Ozpin's office.

"So Miss Elena, let me get this straight. You reach the point where your powers were threatening to consume your humanity and soul, so you ask your one and only friend, who happens to be professor Silver's daughter, to kill you." Ozpin asked.

Elena nodded sadly.

"After that, you reunited with your dead family for a while until Robona personally visited you and offered you a choice to either stay with your deceased family or be given a second chance at life in exchange to deliver a message to Teresa. Then you were told to come to me for help finding a new life in this world, a sense of purpose? Am I wrong?" Ozpin continued.

"No, you got everything except one thing." Elena answered humbly.

"Oh? What is that?" Ozpin asked.

"I was told to find a way to unlock something called Aura so it could heal a stigma on my body." she explained.

Teresa visibly flinched at the mention of the stigma. "Why wasn't that healed when you arrived on Remnant." she exclaimed.

"Why? Is this stigma a problem?" Ozpin asked.

"Normally, the stigma never heals, and the Organization used certain crude measures so that we would not die from it." Teresa explained.

"How can it be that bad, and what sort of crude measures were used?" professor Goodwitch asked.

Elena removed the collar around her neck that held her emblem to show where part of the stigma started and then lifted part of her shirt only to show her stomach. The stigma looked like a deep unhealing cut that was crudely sewn up. Both professors looked at the stigma in horror.

"Why would anyone do such a thing!?" Glynda asked in shock.

"It's the method of how we Claymore's are created." Teresa calmly answered. "But once the transformation starts, the wound would never heal. So this is the method the Organization used to keep us alive. If what Robona said is true, then unlocking your Aura should heal the stigma completely."

"Then why was yours healed when you arrived on Remnant?" Elena asked.

"This letter from Robona may explain that." she said as she held up the letter.

"May I see this letter?" Ozpin said as he quickly typed something on his desk. Teresa handed Ozpin the letter which he set on his desk for it to scan. A few seconds later a copy of the letter was projected above the desk.

_Hello Teresa,_

_This letter brings both wonderful and terrible news. Your daughter has become a Claymore, but I know that you already know this. Following your example, Clare has taken in a young boy who lost everything to a yoma disguised as his older brother. She is to face her own trials soon and has been selected to take out a yoma that has been plaguing my city. While she is there, I will watch over her and the young boy._

_There is also trouble stirring in the frozen north of Alphonse. When it's at its peak, I will be able to bring Clare and a few others to Remnant alive. This should happen just before the Vytal festival tournament._

_Teresa, I must ask another favor from you. Will you take Elena here and adopt her under your new family name? She will need help learning many things and I can see you being one of the best role model for her._

_You have done wonderful work with your task, and I ask that you keep up the good work. Before Clare arrives on Remnant there will be another you will need to prepare for who will change your life for the better. Look forward to meeting him._

_If you were wondering why your stigma was healed is because of how difficult it is to treat the wound without the help of another Claymore when the treatment gets damaged._

_Ozpin, I know you are reading this letter as well. So I will say hello and thank you for hiring Teresa as a new professor. I have a favor to ask of you as well. Will you enroll Elena into your academy and train her to be a huntress? She already has experience fighting the monsters of her world and fighting the Grimm would come naturally to her._

_Finally, as a warning, former deceased Awakened Beings and living yoma have been brought to Remnant by unknown means. Stay on your guard all of you._

_Sincerely, _

_Robona._

"Well, that last part is very concerning indeed." Ozpin deadpanned "But his request for me is a reasonable one. Elena, you are seventeen, correct?"

"Yes, sir."

"Very well, you may that here at Beacon until your official initiation. If you fail there is nothing I can do. But if you pass you will be put on a team of your own that you will spend the next four years with." Ozpin explained.

"Elena? Are you okay with Robona's request for you to become my second daughter?" Teresa asked.

Elena was surprised that Teresa didn't give the request a second thought. "I… uh… I'm okay with it." she said.

"Well then, it's official. Congratulations miss Silver." Ozpin said with a smile.

"I'm more worried about the trouble that's happening in this land called Alphonse." professor Goodwitch said. "Professor Silver, what's the worst possible scenario that could happen?"

"An army of Awakened Beings gather and attack in mass under the leadership of a very powerful Awakened that has claimed the title of Abyssal. If this is happening in the north then there is only one who can do such a thing. Isley, the silver king of the north." Teresa explained "To combat this sort of problem, the Organization would send nearly half of all their Claymores to face this threat. Even if it is only to delay this army." She paused and had a moment of deep thought.

"Something on your mind professor Silver?" Ozpin asked.

"If something like this were to happen, it should give Robona a chance to rescue a large amount of Claymore's from the Organization without them knowing, due to the fact that their watchers will be nowhere close to where the battle takes place."

"How many do you think will arrive on Remnant when this happens?" Ozpin asked with ever-growing curiosity.

"Twenty to twenty-four at most."

Professor Goodwitch's eyes widened when a thought entered her mind. "Ozpin, you don't think this could be the sign of the first part of the legend coming true?" she asked.

"I do." he said concerned.

"Legend?" both Teresa and Elena asked.

"A long time ago there was this famous Faunus known as the Dragon Faunus. Those that become the Dragon Faunus were known to be protectors of all. But what made her special was her semblance." Ozpin explained "her semblance was known as precognition, which allowed her to see future events. On her deathbed she told of a prophecy when the next Dragon Faunus would arise. Eventually that prophecy faded into legend, but due to recent events, we think that the legend may come true."

"And what does it have to do with us?" Teresa curiously asked.

"The first part of the legend mentions warriors of silver. If we are right about this, then this part refers to both of you and your fellow Claymore's." Glynda explained in a serious tone.

"This may help with our first problem as well." Ozpin added "Robona's mention of yoma and former deceased Awakens arriving on Remnant is concerning. But with more of your fellow Claymore's here, we can be able to keep an eye out for them in a sense."

"First?" Elena asked a bit worried.

"The only other problem in front of us at the moment is your stigma." professor Goodwitch responded, "It may be true that a newly unlocked Aura will heal it, but we are not going to risk unlocking it without some proper medical staff on hand if something should go wrong."

"The daughter of a famous doctor is to arrive here in Vale in the next few days. Her semblance is sure to help if anything goes wrong." Ozpin added. "Miss Silver, are you willing to wait a few days before we proceed?"

"I've had it for half my life. I don't think a few more days can hurt." Elena said with a smile.

"Very well then." Ozpin said as he picked up his scroll and called one of his students. "Hello, Miss Rose? Can you and your team please come to my office? Thank you."

A few minutes later, Team RWBY walked into Ozpin's office. "How can we help, Headmaster?" Ruby asked.

"Thank you for coming. Elena here is new to Beacon and she will be staying until her initiation. I would like you four to show her around Beacon and Vale for a few days." Ozpin said with a smile.

"Sure thing," Ruby said joyfully. "Hi, my name is Ruby Rose!"

"Hello, I'm Elena Silver." Elena greeted the team.

"Wait? Silver?" Weiss asked.

"As of twenty minutes ago." Teresa added with a slight chuckle.

"That's awesome. Name's Yang Xiao Long, I'm Ruby's older sister." Yang greeted.

"Weiss Schnee." Weiss said introducing herself.

Yang bumped her elbow into Blake's side, knocking her out of deep thought. "Oh umm, I'm Blake Belladonna." she said a bit nervously.

"Miss Silver, before Team RWBY here shows you around Beacon academy, please take this." Ozpin said as he held up a brand new scroll. "You can use this to get into your new dorm and it can do many other things."

"Thank you," Elena said as she took the scroll.

"You're welcome. Your new room should be 315." Ozpin added.

"Well, that's going to be easy to find." Yang said jokingly.

"Why is that?" Elena asked.

"It's two rooms over from ours." Weiss affirmed.

A loud rumbling sound interrupted any further conversation and Elena grabbed her stomach in embarrassment.

"Well it is dinner time, let's go get some food." Yang suggested.

"Sounds good to me." Elena said with a smile.

"To the cafeteria!" Ruby shouted joyfully.

"Miss Silver, one last thing." Ozpin said with a smile. "Welcome to Beacon."

**[...]**

**A/N: Well lots of things happened recently again.**

**First off, on runescape after working hard for over 12 years, I finally got the max cape which is where you get all skills to level 99. Kinda tricky if you don't know what you are doing. Threw a little party to celebrate. Because I have finished that goal I now have more time to write.**

**Second off, the ARK Halloween event and charity stream. Halloween stuff was fun and got to raise quite a few boss fighting rexs but during that charity stream. OMG the big reveals for the Genesis update. Now I have an ending I for this Ark/RWBY crossover storyline I have planned. Those space whales (the Atrocetus) are just awesome and that new upcoming underwater boss as well. I'm so excited.**

**Third, I have commissioned some artwork for this story and I'm pleased to tell you that soon the Jaeger Diamond Banshee will soon be here. I have personally seen the rough sketch and the artist really outdid themselves. More planned artwork to come.**

**Finally some bad news, a few days ago my Grandpa was told he will be needing surgery and will have to take six weeks off work afterward. Please keep him in your prayers.**

**B/N: Well, this is new for me. Pokeman1280 here. It's nice to have a change of pace here and it's nice to help someone else get better with their own writing.**

**Alt B/N: Rocketmce coming in for a bunch of grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure edits. I've seen the Diamond Banshee rough sketch and… boy, I never thought I'd see the day when someone did an art-piece of that. I remember someone doing a picture of team SPHR, which was amazing (InsertSomthinAwsome on DeviantArt if you're curious) but I'm glad to see it get a full art piece. Might even go back and do a redux of the story at some point, who knows.**


	13. The Cat and the Claymore

A/N: I am so sorry I'm late with this chapter. It was kicking my butt for a good while and many other distractions happened at the same time. Anyway here is the new chapter and the end of season one of RWBY. Enjoy.

[...]

Vale, Friday 5:23 Pm.

The streets of Downtown Vale were rather busy today as many volunteers were decorating the streets in preparation for the upcoming Vytal Festival. Balloons and small flags danced above the streets. There was even the old shopkeeper hanging a banner saying 'Welcome To Vale!' above one of the small crowds.

A certain group of young girls stopped in front of the new sign as they were showing a young Claymore around town.

"The Vytal Festival! Oh, this is absolutely wonderful!" Weiss announced joyfully.

"I don't think I've ever seen you smile this much Weiss. It's kinda weirding me out." Ruby said uncomfortably.

"How could you not smile?" Weiss asked. "A festival dedicated to the cultures of the world! There will be dances, parades, A tournament!"

"Reminds me of some of the celebrations back home," Elena said joyfully.

"Exactly!" Weiss said agreeing with Elena. "Oh, the amount of planning and organization that goes into this event is simply breathtaking."

"You really know how to take a good thing and make it sound boring." Yang sighed.

"Quiet you"

"Remind me again why we're spending our Friday afternoon visiting the stupid docks instead of showing Elena here the better parts of Vale?" Yang asked.

"Ugh, they smell like fish," Ruby said trying to plug her nose.

"Well, professor Goodwitch told me that I was to meet someone here today who is supposed to make sure nothing goes wrong when my Aura is unlocked," Elena answered with a bit of hope in her eyes.

"Why would something go wrong if your Aura is unlocked?" Ruby asked. "Isn't it supposed to heal and protect you, not harm you?"

"Not the Aura itself but an injury I received when I was nine could cause some problems," Elena explained.

"Oh."

"Well, I've heard that students visiting from Vacuo will be arriving by ship today," Weiss said while watching a boat full into port. "And as a representative of Beacon, I feel as though it is my solemn duty to welcome them to this fine kingdom."

"She wants to spy on them so she'll have the upper hand in the tournament." Blake translated for everyone.

"Ah! You can't prove that!" Weiss responded.

"Woah," Ruby said as she saw a shop that was broken into with police tape covering the area.

"This brings back some unpleasant memories," Elena said as the five of them walked up to the crime scene.

"What happened here?" Ruby asked one of the detectives on the scene.

"Robbery. Second Dust shop to be hit this week," he said looking over his notes. "This place is turning into a jungle."

"That's terrible." Yang scoffed.

"At least no one is dead this time," Elena added as she looked at the store.

"Why would you say something like that?" Weiss asked.

"Do you guys know what both me and Teresa did before we arrived here?" Elena asked.

"You both went out and hunted down creatures known as yoma and Awakened Beings," Yang responded.

"Well, I've never fought an Awakened before, but yes, for a year I was tasked to hunt down yoma. After my second job, I ended up at this inn that also held a small store inside and I just wanted to get out of the rain that night." She said with a sigh. "That week was the worst."

"Oh, it couldn't have been that bad." Yang teased.

"Try running into a yoma when it was eating with little sleep, soaked to the bone, then get thrown through a wall and land in the last spot you ever want to be inside a stable," Elena remarked grumpily.

"Ouch, and I thought I had bad days," Yang said as she winced.

"They left all the money again." a second detective called out sounding clearly annoyed.

"Yeah, just doesn't make a lick a' sense. Who needs that much Dust?" the first detective asked his partner.

"I dunno, ya know what I mean?"

"You thinking the uh, White Fang?" the first detective asked throwing out theories.

"Yeah, I'm thinking we don't get paid enough."

"White Fang?" Elena asked.

"The White Fang. What an awful bunch of degenerates." Weiss huffed.

"What's your problem?" Blake asked Weiss.

"My problem? I simply don't care for the criminally insane."

"The White Fang is hardly a bunch of psychopaths. They're a collection of misguided Faunus." Blake said with a slight bit of tension in her voice.

"Misguided?!" Weiss questioned. "They want to wipe humanity off the face of the planet!"

"So then they're 'very' misguided," Blake affirmed. "Either way, it doesn't explain why they would rob a Dust shop in the middle of downtown Vale."

"Blake's got a point," Ruby added. "Besides, the police never caught that Torchwick guy me, Shade, Hunter, and Teresa ran into about a month ago. Maybe it was him."

"That still doesn't change the fact that the White Fang are a bunch of scum. Those Faunus only know how to lie, cheat, and steal." Weiss said trying to prove her point.

"That's not entirely true." A voice said behind the group.

The five girls turned to see another young woman around their age. She had medium length, slightly curly, wild dark brown hair that hung in front of her face in frazzled locks. A short ponytail that ended at her shoulders kept her hair neat in the back. Two dark brown Grizzly bear ears sat atop her head. She was wearing a red t-shirt with a gray stripe that ran across her shoulders. A grayish-white stab-proof vest covered her torso. Her hands were covered with a pair of red and gray fingerless gloves. She was also wearing a pair of combat jeans that matched in color to her shirt with black and red knee pads. A crimson belt that held three small pouches on her right side and a large pouch with two weapon holsters on her lower back. A pair of black knee-high combat boots with red laces covered her lower legs and feet. A high tech arm brace covered the lower part of her left arm. Lastly, her emblem, which was over her heart on her vest, was that of Remnant's shattered moon turned a deep blood red with a golden line that represented a heartbeat on medical equipment.

At seeing her, Blake visibly relaxed, her shoulders dropping as a small smile crawled onto her face.

"Only the ones that act out like that are the anarchist of the White Fang. The others just want to be treated equal with humans and joined the White Fang for that purpose." the young Faunus said to Weiss.

"Let me guess, are you a member of the White Fang?" Weiss hissed.

"Nope. I've been too busy helping my mom out at hospitals around Remnant to care about that stuff. I did date a guy once that was part of the White Fang though." She said before turning her attention to Blake. "Hey Blake, it's been a while. You going to introduce me to your friends?"

"Blake? Who is she?" Ruby asked.

"Ruby, Yang, Weiss, Elena. Meet my childhood friend Dahlia Bloodmoon." Blake said introducing her friend to the group.

"Hello." Both the sisters and Elena said.

"'Bloodmoon?' Wait! As in Dr. Autumn Bloodmoon? The best medical doctor on Remnant!?" Weiss asked in shock.

"Yeah, that's my mom," Dahlia said proudly.

"So where is Jad?" Blake asked changing the subject.

"Oh, he is trying to get us a couple of rooms to stay at near Beacon till our Initiation day happens. After that, he said he was going to do his usual self taught training regimen and try to get a nearby Grimm count before dinner." Dahlia said as she began to fiddle with the screen on her arm brace.

"So the usual. Although, why aren't you with him?" Blake asked.

"Mom called me this morning and told me that there was a person I needed to meet around here who would need my help and this was a high priority request from the top." She explained.

"That would be me," Elena said with a small wave.

"Hello, there my new pati-..." Dahlia paused as she looked at the girl. "What are you?"

"Huh?"

"You're not Faunus or Human, and my sense of smell doesn't lie. So what are you?" Dahlia asked again.

Weiss's eyes widened a bit. "Dahlia do you have a knife on you?" She asked.

Elena quickly caught on to what Weiss was thinking. _Yoma inspection check,_ she thought. _Might as well get this over with and then explain everything._

Dahlia pulled out a scalpel from her larger pouch and before anyone could do anything with it Elena snatched it away. Team RWBY immediately had their hands on their weapons ready for a fight, only to see Elena cut herself on the hand with the scalpel. Crimson blood began to pool in her hand as she showed it to everyone.

"Well, I'm not a yoma if that was what you were thinking." She said with a smile before handing the scalpel back to Dahlia.

Team RWBY relaxed and tried to gather their thoughts. Dahlia, on the other hand, was confused as to what was going on.

"I would like an explanation from all of you," Dahlia said before grabbing Elena's bleeding hand. "But first, let me fix this." at that moment she activated her semblance and wisps of Aura left her hand and entered Elena's wound. After a few seconds, the bleeding stopped and the cut completely sealed itself without leaving any trace of an injury.

"Did Jad tell you what happened during my team's Initiation?" Blake asked.

"No, he didn't. What happened?"

"We were attacked by something called an Awakened. They aren't Grimm, but they're something much worse." Blake shuddered from the memory.

"They are a much stronger version of a creature known as a yoma," Elena explained. "Yoma tend to disguise themselves as either humans or faunus then when they grow hungry they attack, for their food of choice is the internal flesh of both humans and faunus."

"That doesn't explain why you don't smell like a human should," Dahlia said.

"Where I'm from, there is no such thing as Aura, Semblance, Huntsmen, or even Dust for that matter. We didn't have to worry about the Grimm either because there were none. But we still lived in fear of becoming the next meal of the creatures known as yoma." Elena said sadly. "A long time ago there was this group that was created known only as The Organization. They took orphaned young girls and implanted the flesh and blood of a yoma into their bodies to create a warrior race known as Claymores to fight and kill the yoma."

"I highly doubt that is entirely true." Weiss scoffed. "There is no way any of the kingdoms would allow something like that to happen."

"Well Weiss, I doubt any of the kingdoms could do anything about it since it happens on another world," Elena explained. "There was this man that sent me here whose Semblance allows him to open gateways to other worlds for himself and others to travel through. He sent me here to escape from the Organization and start a new life."

"Another world!? If that was even remotely true, I would go and take all of team CRDL out on a date at the same time. Even then I still wouldn't do that." Weiss ridiculed.

"Come on Weiss, you know there are people out there who can create portals to other places on Remnant with their Semblance. Can't someone else with a similar Semblance be able to go to other worlds." Yang said trying to reason with the heiress.

"Yang does have a point," Blake added.

"Look, all I want is some sort of evidence before someone starts saying they are from another world," Weiss said before turning her attention back to the young Claymore. "Do you have any proof of what you said is even real?"

Elena said nothing. Instead, she lifted her shirt enough to show all of them the stigma. Weiss and Blake had horrified looks on their faces. Ruby felt very queasy and Yang looked like she wanted to hit something. Dahlia, on the other hand, looked at the stigma with pure interest.

"Fascinating! Mind if I can do a scan?" Dahlia asked.

"Dahlia, what are you up to?" Blake asked.

"Mom wanted me to test out some new equipment out in the field and this gives me the chance to do so." She said as she messed with the screen on her arm. After a few seconds, two small drones ejected themselves from the bottom of her arm brace and flew over to Elena. Two lights swept over Elena as the drones flew back and forth, scanning her. After a minute or so, the drones flew back to Dahlia and injected themselves back into her arm brace, uploading their data.

"Well now, this is definitely interesting," Dahlia said as she looked at the results. "So you're a Claymore I take it?"

Elena simply nodded.

"That explains why a few of your internal organs aren't yours or even remotely human or faunus at all," Dahlia said trying to hold back her excitement.

"Why the name Claymore?" Yang asked.

"If we survive our training and transformation, the Organization gives us our claymores and we carry them for the rest of our lives. It is these swords we are named after and represent who we are in a sense," she said tapping the grip of her claymore.

"Wait a sec. Blake isn't that… ?"

"Yes, it is. Jad's claymore is the exact same as Elena's. Just the emblems and grip color is different." Blake explained.

"My grandma had one just like it as well," Ruby added. "But it was lost when she died and we have no clue where it is."

"That may explain a few things. Well, Blake, it was good seeing you again." Dahlia said. "Elena, mind heading to Beacon with me so we can heal that stigma of yours?"

"The sooner the better actually. I don't want my guts to fall out if something bad were to happen in a fight." Elena joked.

"Somebody stop that Faunus!" Someone shouted from the docks.

"Ruby, I'll meet up with you and your team later, okay?" Elena said with a smile.

"Catch up with us after you get your Aura unlocked!" Ruby called as she chased after her team towards the entrance to the Vale docks.

"Come on little miss Franklynda Stein's monster, let's get that stigma of your's healed," Dahlia said jokingly.

"Who's Franklynda?" Elena asked.

"Oh Dust! You really are from another world." Dahlia said as she burst out into laughter. "I'll tell you on the way. It's my favorite story."

[...]

Later that night, Elena was walking towards her new dorm room after being released from Beacon's medical ward. Like Robona had said, unlocking her Aura healed her stigma. Under the watchful eyes of Beacon's female medical staff, Teresa and Dahlia, professor Goodwitch unlocked her Aura. As per Teresa's request, Ozpin was absent from the procedure due to where parts of the stigma were located. Everything went well and now she was enjoying how everything felt so different around herself.

She began to walk past a statue of a young huntsman and huntress standing on a large stone rock with a Beowolf statue next to the stone. Elena wondered how long it took for someone to carve the statue before a sad sniff interrupted her train of thought. She looked around the statue to find Blake standing in front of it while she held the ribbon that she used for her bow.

Why did she take off her bow? Elena asked herself. She looked up to where the bow usually was and saw what Blake was hiding. A pair of cat ears rested on top of her head.

"Blake are you alright?" she called out.

Blake turned to see Elena standing nearby. "Elena?" she asked trying to wipe a tear from her eye.

"Are you hurt? Did something happen?"

"No, it's just." Blake paused. She was unsure of what to say.

Elena looked back at Blake's cat ears and something clicked in her head. "Was it something Weiss said?" she asked.

"How did you know?"

"I remember how both you and Weiss were arguing earlier and I don't think you both calmed down about it," Elena explained.

"She just doesn't understand what it's like to be a Faunus. To be mistreated and feared just because you are different." Blake said sadly as more tears ran down her cheeks.

"Well, I believe I know what it's like," Elena said as she hung her head.

"How?! How could you of all people understand what it's like?!" Blake nearly shouted.

"After my parents died, I was taken to the Organization where they cut me open and replaced my organs while I was still awake and they did nothing to relieve the pain. After that, I was thrown into a cage with another person who went through the same treatment. That person was Teresa's adopted daughter Clare. That is when the transformations really began." She explained with tears forming in her eyes. "The pain was unbearable, our hair lost its color and our eyes turned silver. When it was all over, they took me and forced me to train and fight using this claymore. They didn't care if I either lived or died. In their eyes, I was just a tool for them to use and could be very easily replaced if they saw fit. After I completed my training I was sent out to hunt yoma with a man always watching my every move. The people I met instantly were afraid of me and a few of them outright verbally attacked me in public. The church I used to go to with my family, excommunicated me saying that no monster like me was welcome anywhere near their churches."

"I may not know the exact pain you are feeling but I can say what I've experienced is close enough," she said with her voice full of empathy.

Blake stood there stunned. This person who wasn't even a faunus truly understood the pain every faunus faced. "Elena, thank you for telling me this, but for now I would like to be away from my team for the weekend."

"I'd recommend visiting some family members if you're going to be gone the whole weekend. Dahlia told me that your brother is here in town and you both haven't seen each other in two years," she said before pulling out a piece of paper and handing it to Blake. "Dahlia told me to give this to you after she got a call from your brother. It's the place where they're staying."

"Thank you. Though would you like to meet my little brother? I'm sure he has some questions for you especially about your claymore." Blake asked.

"Why not. I don't have anything important to do for a few weeks."

"I knew you looked better without the bow." A nearby voice said.

[...]

Two days later, Blake, Elena and a blonde guy with a long monkey tail were gathered at a small little cafe in downtown Vale. The monkey faunus was the same person who ran into both Blake and Elena last Friday evening and ended up sticking around. Elena explained to him that she was a Claymore and what Claymore's were when he sensed she wasn't human.

"So Sun, Elena, you two wanna know more about me," Blake said breaking the long silence between the three of them.

"Finally, she speaks!" Sun said sarcastically as he raised his hands in the air. "Nearly two days and you've given me nothing but small talk and weird looks."

Blake just glared at him.

"Yeah, like that."

"Sun… are you familiar with the White Fang?" Blake asked.

"Of course! I don't think there's a faunus on the planet who hasn't heard of them. Stupid, holier-than-thou creeps that use force to get whatever they want. Bunch of freaks if you ask me." Sun remarked.

"I was… once a member of the White Fang." Blake said calmly.

Sun, for a moment, began choking and coughing on the tea he was drinking.

"Wait, you were a member of the White Fang? That's almost as unbelievable as this girl here being from another world," he said as he pointed his thumb at Elena.

"I do have a name you know," Elena said before taking a bite of the cheesecake slice she bought.

Blake sighed before continuing. "I was a member for most of my life actually. You could say I was born into it. Back then, things were different. In the ashes of war, the White Fang was meant to be a symbol of peace and unity between humans and the faunus. Of course, despite being promised equality, the faunus were subjected to discrimination and hate."

Elena frowned at this as it reminded her of many things that happened to her as she worked for the Organization.

"Humanity still thought of us as lesser beings. And so, the White Fang rose up as the voice of our people. And I was there. I was at the front of every rally. I took part in every boycott. And I thought we were making a difference… but I was just a youthful optimist. Then, five years ago, our leader stepped down and a new one took his place. A new leader, with a new way of thinking. Suddenly our peaceful protests were being replaced with organized attacks. We were setting fire to shops that refused to serve us. Hijacking cargo from companies that used faunus labor. And the worst part was? It was working. We were being treated as equals. But not out of respect… out of fear." Blake said disappointedly.

"So I left. I decided I no longer wanted to use my skills to aid in their violence and instead, I would dedicate my life to become a Huntress. So here I am. A criminal hiding in plain view. All with the help of a little, black bow." She said as she wiggled her cat ears, making the bow move.

"Have you told your friends any of this?" Sun asked a hint of concern in his voice.

"No, I haven't." She said sadly.

"Well, telling me now counts I think," Elena added.

Both Blake and Sun held back a small chuckle. After a few minutes all three of them the little cafe and began walking down one of the streets of downtown Vale.

"So, what's the plan now?" Sun asked.

"I still don't believe the White Fang is behind these robberies. They've never needed that much Dust before." Blake said with some worry leaking into her voice.

"But what if they did?" Elena asked.

"She has a point," Sun said in deep thought before an idea hit him. "Look, if the only way to prove that they didn't do it, is to go to the place where they would most likely go if they were to do it, and not find them there."

"The only thing is, I doubt any of us would know where that would be." Elena sighed. "Or do we?"

"While I was on the ship that brought me here, I heard some guys talking about offloading a 'huge' shipment of Dust coming in from Atlas," Sun said confidently.

"How huge?" Blake asked.

"Huge. Big Schnee Company freighter."

"You sure?"

"Positive," Sun said without missing a beat.

"Let's go and see for ourselves then," Elena stated.

Both Blake and Sun nodded as the three of them hurried towards the shipping warehouses.

[...]

A couple of hours after the sunset in the city of Vale. Blake and Elena were laying down on one of the roofs of the warehouse in Vale's shipping port. Multiple large containers with the Schnee Dust company logo were stacked nearby.

"Did I miss anything?" Sun asked quietly as he landed on the roof with an arm full of green apples.

"Not really. They've offloaded all the containers from the boat. Now they're just sitting there." Blake said calmly.

"I'm afraid to ask what would happen if someone got a hold of all that Dust for the wrong reasons," Elena said eyeing the containers.

"I stole you both some food if you're hungry." Sun offered.

"Do you always break the law without a second thought?" Blake asked feeling slightly annoyed at the monkey faunus.

"Hey, weren't you both in a cult or something?" Sun asked idiotically.

Both girls looked at Sun and just glared angrily at him.

"Okay, too soon," Sun said realizing his mistake.

Not a moment later, loud turbine engines roared overhead as a Bullhead flew over them and landed next to the shipping containers while kicking up a lot of dust. The moment the dust cleared members of the White Fang began disembarking from the Bullhead.

"Oh no," Blake said with regret.

"Is that them?" Sun asked.

"Yes. It's them." Blake looked over to Elena and saw she had focused on one singular member of the White Fang. She was slowly reaching for her claymore all the while never letting the man leave her sight.

"Elena? What's wrong?" Blake asked a bit confused as to why she was singling out that one person.

"He isn't a faunus. If I don't deal with him soon they all will be in trouble." She said as she grabbed her claymore and pulled it out of its scabbard.

"What do you mean he's not a faunus?" Sun asked a bit confused. "That makes him human right?"

"No. Not human."

Blake quickly caught on to what Elena was saying. "Yoma or Awakened?"

"Yoma, definitely a Yoma," Elena said coldly.

A light breeze washed over them from past the group of White Fang members.

"And I don't smell any blood from him so he hasn't eaten in some time. That's more bad news."

"Let me get this straight. The White Fang is stealing Dust and among them is a monster?" Sun asked quietly.

Both Blake and Elena nodded.

"Hey! What's the hold-up?" a voice yelled from the Bullhead. "We're not exactly the most inconspicuous bunch of thieves at the moment, so why don't you animals try and pick up the pace."

Roman Torchwich walked out of the Bullhead with another man dressed in a gray suit and pants with crimson trimming. His shoes and tie were a deep crimson blood red. He had short neat black hair and a matching hat to Roman's. His right hand was a bionic one instead of it being normal. The man pushed one of the members of the White Fang down the ramp he was standing on.

"This isn't right. The White Fang would never work with a human. Especially not ones like that." Blake said as she stood up and drew Gambol Shroud. Elena stood up with her and they both exchanged a nod.

"Hey! What are you two doing!?" Sun asked as they jumped off the roof and ran towards their targets. As they rounded a shipping container they saw Roman yell at a member of the White Fang.

"No, you idiot! This isn't a leash!"

Once his back was to Blake, she snuck up behind him and held her weapon to his throat.

"What the-? Oh for f-" Roman said when he realized he was caught.

"Nobody move!" Blake ordered as a few White Fang members drew their weapons.

"Whoa! Take it easy there little lady." Roman said trying to worm his way out. Some of the White Fang members got closer and one of them was the disguised yoma. Blake could now sense that he wasn't a faunus but she wondered why the other faunus couldn't sense it. She reached for her bow and quickly pulled it off to reveal her cat ears.

"Brothers of the White Fang. Why are you aiding this scum?" she demanded an answer.

Roman began to laugh. "Heh, oh kid. Didn't you get the memo?"

"What are you talking about?" Blake snapped.

"The White Fang and I are going in on a joint business venture together," Roman explained.

"Tell me what it is or I'll put an end to your little operation," Blake demanded further as she moved the blade of Gambol Shroud closer to Roman's neck.

"I wouldn't exactly call it a little operation," Roman said as two more Bullheads flew overhead and began circling them.

Elena took her chance and attempted a lethal strike on the hidden yoma only for it to notice her and back flipped over her. Once it landed, it kicked Elena so hard she flew into one of the shipping containers, leaving a sizable crater in the side.

"Elena!" Blake shouted.

"You Damn Witch. Your kind can't just leave me alone now can you?" the hidden yoma yelled. It tore off its mask and revealed the same monstrous eyes that the Awakened Rosemary had. Some of the White Fang turned their weapons at the hidden yoma. It noticed and began to laugh. "You fools! You don't know what you are dealing with. Now I'm hungry. Now it's time to feast!" it roared as it began to transform. Thick muscles grew all around its body destroying most of its clothing. The arms and legs got longer. Sharp claws formed on the fingers and toes. The hidden yoma's teeth turned sharp and pointed. Its head distorted a bit gaining a monstrous appearance. Its skin color turned from tan to reddish-gray. Once the transformation ended, a seven-foot-tall monster stood in front of them.

Roman took his chance with everyone distracted and fired a dust round at Blake's feet throwing her back a few meters. He quickly fired a few more rounds at Blake before firing some more at the yoma. None of the rounds struck their target as both of them dodged fairly easily.

Elena managed to finally get up and back into the fight. She slammed her fist into the yoma's chest, throwing it back a bit. The yoma recovered and fired its lance-like fingers at the young Claymore. Elena managed to duck under the attack and brought her claymore to sever four of the five fingers. The yoma screamed in pain as it struck another blow with its right foot and sent her into the group of White Fang members.

"Sorry!" She apologized to the faunus she knocked over. She turned and raised her claymore in time to catch a claw strike from the yoma. "Get out of here all of you!" She yelled at the group of faunus.

At the same time Blake and Sun, who finally joined them after the fighting started, were fighting both Roman and the White Fang that wasn't focused on the yoma. Sun was keeping Roman at bay as he fired his twin nun-chuck-shotguns until Blake landed a clean blow to Roman's face. He flew back a few feet and landed on his back, only for him to spot something that could help him. He fired a Dust round from his cane at a shipping crane that was holding one of the containers above both Blake and Sun. They both noticed the container and jumped out of the was as it fell and landed where they were a few moments ago.

Elena managed to sever the yoma's left arm and land a few good blows as well. If anything it only made it angrier. It turned and saw Sun on the ground recovering from Roman's attack. The yoma smiled and charged toward Sun intent on using him as a shield. "Oh no, you don't!" Elena yelled as she caught up and slammed her claymore into the yoma's torso, sending it flying into the same shipping container.

A familiar voice called out and everyone turned to face it. On a nearby roof, Ruby Rose stood with Crescent Rose fully extended in its scythe form.

"Oh, hello Red! Isn't it past your bedtime?" Roman remarked before firing a shot at her and hitting home.

"RUBY!" Elena shouted before she was attacked again by the yoma. The yoma managed to strike her from underneath and send her flying into the air. For a moment, Elena felt weightless before she was caught by an orange-haired girl wearing green and tan colors.

"Thank you," she said to the girl as they landed safely.

"Oh, you're very much welcome." the girl said with a smile that just felt weird to the young Claymore. "My name is Penny. What's yours?"

"Elena." She said introducing herself with a warm smile.

Three armed Bullheads flew towards the two and fired their heavy dust rounds. Penny managed to block the rounds aimed at her with her swords. Elena tried to do the same but a few of the rounds managed to get past, shattering her Aura and then severing the lower part of her left arm. Elena screamed in pain as she clutched her bloody arm and focused on stopping the bleeding with her claymore abilities. Penny jumped back and charged up a laser beam and aimed at the Bullheads. Once the laser fired, it sliced the Bullheads in half.

Down to one good arm, Elena knew she had to end this fight here and now. She activated her Claymore powers to fifteen percent and her eyes changed from silver to the same color and shape as the yoma's, gold with vertical pupils. She rushed the yoma dodging under another claw strike and delivered a horizontal strike with her claymore to its legs, severing them. She then went for the arm and removed it by spinning around and slicing in a left to right downward motion. With the yoma disarmed and immobilized, Elena raised her claymore.

"Damn you witch!" It managed to yell before she decapitated its head.

Elena turned to see the man in gray pull Roman into a smaller Bullhead before it took off to somewhere unknown.

"ELENA!" Blake shouted. "Are you alright? Oh, my Dust! Elena you arm!"

Elena just laughed. "Oh, this? This is nothing. Now, where is my arm... I would like to reattach...it…" Her mood tanked the moment she saw her severed arm. It was blasted, mangled, and all-round destroyed.

"Elena? Are you going to be okay?" Blake asked very worriedly for the young Claymore.

Elena sighed. "Give me a week or two and ill be good as new. I'm a defensive type after all."

"A defensive-whosa-whatsa-it-now?" Sun asked before noticing Elena's missing arm. "Oh my god! Elena how are you fine after taking that much damage!"

"We Claymores can be placed in two groups. Offensive and Defensive types. Mom is an Offensive type who specializes in all things combat. Me, I'm a Defensive type which means I have a better ability with healing and regeneration."

"Wait, does that mean?"

"Yes, in two weeks' time at most, I will have a new arm fully regenerated," she said with a laugh.

[...]

A few hours later Elena, Blake, and Ruby reunited with Yang and Weiss. Both Blake and Weiss talked it out and forgave each other. After a quick freak-out session about Elena's missing arm and Elena convincing Weiss to use Fire Dust to incinerate the yoma's body, they headed back to Beacon only to find Teresa and Professor Port waiting for them at the front gates.

"HAHA! Welcome back team RWBY! I heard that your weekend was an exciting one!" Professor Port boomed.

"Elena. What happened to your arm?" Teresa asked with concern dripping from her voice.

"A yoma attacked me and Blake. I managed to fight it on even ground but those dang Bullheads fired upon me and destroyed my arm. I managed to kill the yoma a bit after that. Also, don't worry about my arm, it will be back to normal in a few weeks." She said humbly as she raised her stumpy left arm.

"You should have told me you were a Defensive type a lot sooner."

Elena laughed. "I was going to tell you tonight anyway."

Professor Port cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. "Well let's get on with business then shall we? Team RWBY In a couple of days I need you four to go out and track down a pack of Beowolves for me and tag them. No need to bag them this time, miss Xiao Long." Professor Port said. "Once a month, I have each of the first-year teams do this and it is your team's turn."

"As said, Ruby, you will be given an extra assignment of only tracking this pack using your ability to sense Yoki," Teresa added. "I was going to send Elena with you but," She looked at her second adopted daughter, "after you received that injury it will need time to heal."

"When do we start?" Ruby asked.

"Tomorrow after classes end." Professor Port boasted.

[...]

Somewhere on another world, a young man was exploring a cave he had discovered and now was using to hide.

_Be careful down there. I don't want to have to rescue you if you were to get caught in something._ His soulmate told him with a mild chuckle.

"Don't worry, as long we are not found we will be fine." the young man said before he slipped on a wet stone and grabbed the nearest piece of solid wall to stabilize himself. Unfortunately, the rock he grabbed onto easily broke off and he fell onto his back.

_I told you to be careful._

"Yes, you did." He responded. He looked at the rock in his hand and saw that part of it was carved out by unnatural means. He looked up and saw something he didn't expect to find at all. A hidebound scroll neatly tucked away in the side of the wall.

"I think I found something."

_What is it?_

The young man picked up the scroll and began to read what was on it. His eyes widened and new hope filled his soul.

"It's a way to get help without them catching us!"

_Bring it to me. I need to see this for myself, and be careful, you don't want to slip again._

The young man laughed and hurried as fast as he dared.

[...]

A/N: so lots of stuff happened first off some good news. One of the artworks I commissioned for my beta reader Pokeman1280's story is completed and online for everyone to see. Be sure to look up Yang and Halcyon by Manu-chann on deviantart to see it. A few birthdays happened as well.

Now some bad news. Today one of my family members has to go into surgery and I hope it goes well for him. Later this month I will have to as well so that the docs can attach a metal plate to my skull. Thank you cancer, I really needed this. Yea, I'm not happy about it at all.

Now back to some really good news. Pokeman1280's story joins the crossover next chapter and I'm so excited to start writing it. And again thank you Pokeman1280 for letting me crossover your story and becoming my second beta reader.

B/N: Mostly a bunch of grammar edits, but I also helped with the tone of the chapter, as there were a few bits that were a bit off-key. Fixed now though.


	14. Escape into Legend

**A/N: So everyone a few announcements before I start this chapter off. First off all storylines that are being used for this story have now officially ended or the authors have stopped working on the stories themselves. Either way, I now have an outline of how this story will go through the few volumes planned.**

**Also, it's time to add the third story into this crossover and again thank you to Pokeman1280 for letting me do this and becoming my second Beta reader.**

**As said, there will be very few changes with this part of the story until the characters from Poke's story starts interacting with other characters from the first two. Anyway let's start off this next chapter.**

[...]

Dragon Rider Aaron Benson knelt at the edge of a large pool of water in the cave he and his dragon were hiding in. Three years on the run, and it came down to this. Aaron found a scroll when he was exploring the cave. It contained a spell that could transport him and his dragon out of Alagaësia and away from the Traitor and the Forsworn. The only problem was that the location on the other side was different every time. Even with that problem, the spell might just save the entire species of dragons.

Aaron turned to look at his forest green dragon, Nalia Quickwing. Five years ago, Nalia hatched for Aaron in the city of Terim. The two of them were a couple of years into their training and were finally trusted with couriering dragon eggs to various cities to find new Riders.

On their first run-through, the Traitor, Galbatorix, attacked Vroengard. The home base for the Riders was destroyed and almost all members of the order were killed. Instead of flying back to assist the elves and remaining Riders in Ilirea, Aaron and Nalia took their teacher's advice and fled north. They had the last remaining eggs and had to keep them safe.

The forest of Du Weldenvarden and the Elves provided a buffer zone that kept the Traitor and his minions away for years. That all changed though when Kialandí and his dragon entered the area a week ago. Neither Aaron nor Nalia left their cave, not even to eat. If they were noticed, Aaron was fully confident he and Nalia could hold off the invaders with their minds, but when it came to a physical fight, the junior pair would be routed.

"Any sign of them?" Aaron asked his soul mate.

_They're on the horizon. They haven't spotted us yet, but I don't want to be here when they do._ Nalia looked her Rider in the eyes. _Cast the spell._

Aaron nodded and set to work. He laid out the scroll by the water and started chanting in the Ancient Language. The spell was long and complicated. If even one word was misplaced, it could spell disaster for the pair. In comparison to other spells, this particular one didn't take much energy at all considering the implications. However, that didn't mean that it was as easy as splitting a boulder in half. Several minutes into casting the spell, Nalia growled. _We've been spotted! Hurry up!_ Aaron obliged, speeding up his chanting as much as he dared.

As he finished casting the spell, the water started to swirl. As it spun, the pool turned a purplish color. Aaron kicked a rock into the pool, but the expected splash never came. "It's ready," he announced. He grabbed the scroll containing the spell and climbed into Nalia's saddle. After he strapped in his legs, Aaron put the scroll in a relatively empty saddlebag, then checked two others for their precious cargo. Sure enough, three dragon eggs sat in the bags.

Aaron patted the neck of his dragon. "Let's go." Nalia didn't wait around. She jumped into the portal…

...and into the open sky over an unknown forest. Nalia yelped in surprise and snapped open her wings to avoid plummeting into the greenery below. Aaron looked back up at the portal they just flew through. It looked like a blue and purple whirlpool suspended in the sky. If it was still there, that probably meant Kialandí could follow through. Aaron cut the flow of energy keeping the portal open, and it disappeared without a trace.

The exhaustion from keeping the portal open hit Aaron and Nalia like a Kull. Still, the Rider smiled. He did it. He and his dragon were free.

_I'm going to find a place to set down,_ Nalia panted. That took more out of me than I thought it would. She started flying toward a mountain that had surprisingly little snow. Aaron looked around the forest below him. Somewhere in those trees might be where he and Nalia would call home for who knows how long. The forest didn't look too different from any forest back in Alagaësia, mainly deciduous trees with a few clearings and rocks scattered about.

Aaron looked up at the sky to judge the time of day and would have fallen out of the saddle if he wasn't strapped in. "Nalia, are you seeing this?" Nalia turned her head to look at what her Rider stared at, then stopped her flight. The moon was visible, and it was half shattered.

_How is this possible?_ Nalia's eyes were wide with fear. _The moon was whole last night. What could cause this?_

The Rider didn't know what to say. Out of everything that changed, the moon was the one constant. Every month, it went from full, to nothing, and then back to full. The same face always showed. Now, that constant had shattered, quite literally. "Let's just find a place to spend the night, okay? We can worry about this later."

Nalia resumed her flight but at a much slower rate. Her head moved from side to side like she did when she thought something was following her. Aaron could feel her tense up through the saddle. He reached for his sword in preparation for battle. When Nalia thought she was being followed, she was usually right.

This time proved no different. A crow's caw loud enough to be confused with a dragon's roar assaulted Aaron's ears. The Rider looked towards the source of the sound and saw a large black bird flying right at him and Nalia.

Nalia growled and rolled out of the way of the creature's attack. Aaron looked down at the bird below him. It was the size of Nalia, and completely black except for a white and red bone 'mask' on its head. Its body shape overall looked like a mix between a condor and a raven. Four red eyes stared back, filled with nothing but hunger and hatred.

The creature attacked once again, this time going for Nalia's exposed belly. She met the black bird halfway, delivering a shoulder to its neck. The dragon's superior mass drove the beast toward the ground. Nalia tried to get her teeth around its neck, but it managed to escape the dragon's shoulder attack.

Nalia breathed a torrent of fire at the bird. The inferno was hot enough to melt stone. However, the creature still flew after the fire stopped. It looked more annoyed than anything. It dove again at Nalia's back, but she managed to roll out of the way. Aaron thought he saw one of the saddlebags get nicked though. He swung his sword at the beast and managed to clip a wing. The creature screamed in pain and rage and turned around for another attack.

By that point, Aaron was getting exhausted, and he could feel Nalia's wing flaps become more labored. The creature had to die soon, or else Nalia would fall out of the sky. Aaron leaned in close to his dragon's ears. "Get me an angle at its neck." Nalia nodded and dove toward the creature. The two titans of the sky met in midair, with Nalia in a slightly more compromising position. The creature had an angle at her neck, but that was by design. As it brought its head back to deliver the killing blow, Nalia twisted her neck, giving Aaron the angle he needed to kill the beast. With a single swing, he loped off the creature's head.

Aaron watched the headless form crash into the forest below. It made a satisfying crash that could most likely be heard for miles around. Both dragon and Rider panted in the air, trying to catch their breath. Nalia turned back to her Rider. _We shouldn't stick around in case there are more nearby._

"Good idea, and nice fighting." Aaron patted Nalia on the neck, and he got a light hum in return. He then looked at the saddlebag that took a hit during the fight. His heart started to fall into his stomach. That was one of the bags that held an egg. Aaron opened the top and saw right down to the forest below.

Panic quickly overtook Aaron. "We lost an egg!" he shouted. Nalia turned around on a needle's point and dove toward the forest. She leveled off just above the canopy and swung her head from side to side, trying to get a glimpse of red among all the green. Her own panic rolled off her in waves. Both dragon and Rider stretched their minds out to the forest, but Aaron almost immediately pulled back. There were more creatures down there, filled with the same hate that he saw in the bird's eyes. Their presence made the entire forest feel evil.

Three distinct roars rolled over the forest. Aaron looked over to the sources and saw three more of the black birds flying right at him. He slumped forward in the saddle, defeated. "We can't take them all on," he whispered.

Nalia turned back to face her Rider, fear, and rage burning in her eyes. _We can't just leave that egg out there! We have to find it!_

"We can't fight them right now. They'll knock us out of the sky in this state. We'll search when we're well-rested. I don't like leaving it out there any more than you do, but we have the two other eggs to take care of. We can't put them in any more danger." Nalia hesitantly nodded, then flew back in her original direction. After a few minutes of chasing, the beasts broke off their pursuit and returned to whatever hellhole they came from, not that they had any chance of catching a Quickwing.

Nalia never slowed down. She flew straight and true towards the hopeful safety of the mountain. Aaron knew half of her was screaming to turn around and find that egg, the other half knew it was sensible to go back when they recovered from the first fight. The Rider put a comforting hand on his dragon's neck. "We _will_ find that egg. Those creatures would be crazy to even lay eyes on it."

The rest of the flight continued in silence. No more birds flew up to meet them, and no other surprises tried to stop them. Nalia found a cave near the top of the mountain and landed just outside. The area around it looked and felt clear of the black creatures and some more familiar wildlife walked around.

The dragon and Rider split up, Nalia going to hunt and Aaron scouting out the top of the mountain. The extra height should give him a decent view of the surrounding area. It was a half-hour hike to the top of the mountain. The trees stayed thick all the way up, a stark contrast to the Spine and the Beors. As Aaron neared the top of the mountain, the wildlife thinned out, where mainly birds flew. A small stream meandered its way toward a lake at the bottom of the mountain.

Aaron climbed a tree at the top of the mountain to get an even better look at the area. The forest stretched out in every direction, meeting an ocean on the west side. An island sat a few miles off the coastline. The city, however, took Aaron's breath away. _Nalia,_ he called with his mind, _I think you need to see this. Fly low though, you could be seen._ Nalia acknowledged and flew up to meet her Rider with a deer hanging limp in her mouth. When she saw the city, her dinner rolled out, but Nalia's mouth stayed open.

The city was enormous. It was nearly three times the size of Ilirea, not counting the sprawl on the island. Large high rise buildings rose on either side of a branching river in the center. Most of the buildings were either tan or white, and all had many glass windows. Despite the obvious differences to structures compared to Alagaësia, the architecture was definitely human in origin. The structure closest to the dragon and Rider stood out from the rest. It resembled a large castle with a large lighthouse structure in the center. There were no defensive walls anywhere around the castle, so it had to look the part just for the aesthetic.

"So, what do you think?" Aaron asked his dragon.

_Whoever they are, they have to be insane to have no walls. Nalia huffed. How can they keep out raiders, or any of those beasts on the ground?_

"Whether we like it or not, we are going to be living near them for a while." Aaron looked over the city with a more critical eye. The central part of the sprawl stood the tallest and was arguably the cleanest part of the city. As buildings got farther away from the center, they grew shorter and looked less adorned. One section of the city stood apart from the rest, its buildings taking a different color. Whether that was by design or grime, Aaron couldn't tell. He decided against entering the city from that side. That section might very well house most of the crime in the city. If he wanted to infiltrate the city though, Aaron knew he had to blend in. There was the very real possibility of running into the language barrier. He'd have to learn that if he wanted to get information out of anyone in the city.

Aaron looked up at the sun. It would set in a few hours, not enough time to make it into the city and back before dark. He turned to look at Nalia. "How about we split up tomorrow. I'll go into the city and you look for the egg."

Nalia shifted uncomfortably. _Are you sure that's the best idea? We could barely take one of those things down._

"We were already tired from making the portal. Besides, you've taken on three dragons larger than you several times before and won. Those things should be no problem."

_What about you? You'll be in an unknown city with who knows how many hostiles or magic users? I doubt your clothes will blend in either._

"I highly doubt anyone in the city would be as bad as the Forsworn. As for the clothes, I'll stay invisible until I can find some more."

Nalia snorted. _Just don't get into trouble down there. I don't want to have to find you in that mess._

"Who am I? Brom?" The pair chuckled a little at that. Brom was one of their few friends left alive after the Fall. "Let's settle down for the night. I'm hungry."

_I'm so glad you never turned vegetarian._

"Eh, give it a while. It might catch me eventually, and what a dark day that will be." Aaron climbed onto Nalia's back and strapped in. The dragon grabbed her dinner in her mouth and flew off to their cave.

[...]

"Woah," was all Ruby could say as she stared at the Evaporating body of a decapitated Nevermore. The ground was littered with branches and leaves of nearby trees. The rest of team RWBY stood a little behind their leader.

"I didn't know any other teams were out this far," Weiss said. "Come to think of it, I can't think of any who could kill one like this."

"No bullet casings, no signs of struggle on the ground," Blake observed. She looked up at the broken canopy. "It's like it was killed in the sky."

Yang gently punched Ruby's shoulder. "Give you any ideas sis?"

"Oh yeah," Ruby replied with a wide grin. "We should really get going, shouldn't keep Professor Port and Teresa waiting for too long."

"I still don't get why he sent us all the way out here to track a pack of Beowolves," the heiress complained.

"I think that was Teresa's part," Yang responded. "Notice how we never ran into any Grimm while following Ruby this far in."

"That ability of yours still surprises me at times," Weiss said.

"Hope we can avoid those other Nevermores we heard," Blake stated.

"Rather fight them than another Awakened any time soon," Ruby said. The rest of the team shuddered at the memory. Fighting Rosemary was an extremely scary and life-changing experience.

The four teammates started to make their way back to Beacon. The forest was unusually quiet, with only the sound of wind to be heard. Still, Ruby was on edge. The quiet either meant there was nothing in the area, or they were being hunted. It was always a good idea to think the latter and her ability to sense yoki in Grimm made sure there were no surprises in store.

A few clearings after they left the Nevermore, Ruby caught the glint of something under the branches of a tree. She changed direction and walked over to it. "Uh, Rubes, last time I checked Beacon wasn't under a tree," Yang joked.

"I found something over here," Ruby called back. The rest of her team quickly joined her under the tree. "I don't know what it is though." A red ovoid object lay half-buried in the ground. Ruby grabbed whatever it was and pulled it out. It was surprisingly warm, which meant it most likely wasn't a normal rock. "Weiss, is this some kind of Dust?"

Weiss grabbed the object from Ruby and looked it over for a few seconds. "I don't know what it is, but it isn't Dust."

"It kind of looks like an egg," Yang chipped in.

"What kind of animal would lay an egg of that size? Or color?" Blake asked.

Ruby thought it over for a moment as she took the object back from Weiss. "A dragon?" she eventually joked.

Yang laughed. "If a dragon hatches from that thing, I'll bake you an oven full of cookies."

"Speaking about dragons, remind me to tell you three a legend some time," Blake said as she stated at the object.

"Well, now I guess I have to keep this thing," Ruby said cheerfully. Blake looked up surprised and Weiss looked taken aback. "Could you go buy some in the city though?"

Yang put her hands on her hips. "Are you trying to tell me something?"

"Hold up!" Weiss interrupted. "You're just going to take some random rock out of the forest because you think it's a dragon egg?"

"What am I?" Twelve?" Ruby retorted. "It's a one of a kind thing, and it matches my cloak." She flipped the rock over in her hands and looked more of it over. "Who knows? This might be worth something."

Weiss rolled her eyes. "Fine, just keep your rock with your stuff." She turned around and saw Blake staring intently off into the distance. "You see something?"

Blake didn't answer for a few seconds. "I thought I saw… Never mind. It's not important. Let's get going."

"Alright, team RWBY!" Ruby called out cheerfully. "We're Beacon bound! For real this time!" She turned east and started walking with the red rock cradled in her arms. Even though her hands were full holding the rock, Ruby was ready to grab Crescent Rose and fight off any Grimm that came close. Surprisingly, none appeared visually or by her sixth sense. There weren't even any recent tracks. Something scared the Grimm off.

The team arrived at Beacon just before sunset. Teresa, Elena, and Professor Port stood waiting at the easternmost gate. Ruby noticed Elena was wearing a medical arm sling for her left arm. "Ah, team RWBY, right on time," Professor Port said cheerfully. "I trust you obtained all the information you needed?"

"Yes, sir!" Ruby replied just as cheerfully. She shifted the rock completely to her right arm and took out her scroll with her left. "It's all on here." She started transferring the files.

"Excellent work. Did you run into anything else interesting out there besides that beautiful stone you're carrying?"

"Well," Ruby began but was cut off by Blake.

"We found a decapitated Nevermore," she said deadpan.

"Yeah, that," Ruby mumbled.

Professor Port smoothed his mustache in thought. "Interesting."

"You didn't put it in that condition, did you?" Teresa asked.

"No," Ruby said. "I detected it for a bit and then it suddenly disappeared from my ability to sense it. So we went to investigate where it last was and found it already decaying."

"Hmm, you four were the only ones supposed to be out there today. I'll have to talk to Professor Ozpin about this," Professor Port said. "Anything you would like to add to this Professor Silver?"

"I had sensed four large amounts of yoki near the Beowolf pack that was being tracked. One of them did disappear and the other three began to chase something towards the mountains." Teresa said. "If they weren't attacking team RWBY then who were they chasing? Anyway, you four are dismissed and Elena you are welcome to join them." and with that, both professors turned around and started walking toward the tower at the center of Beacon. As for team RWBY and Elena, they all headed back to the dorms. While they were tired from the day's activities, they still managed to strike up a conversation.

"How's your arm, Elena?" Blake asked.

"Doing better than I originally thought," Elena said joyfully. She pulled her injured arm out of the sling and removed the bandages. The day before she was missing half the lower part of her arm. Now, the only thing missing was her hand. "Ruby, where did you find that rock?"

"Found it on the way back from tracking a pack of Beowolves," Ruby said showing off the rock. "It's awesome, am I right?"

The young Claymore chuckled. "It is unique and quite beautiful."

"Oh, Blake!" Yang chimed in. "Weren't you going to tell us a legend that rock reminded you of?"

"What legend?" Elena asked.

"Have you guys heard about the legend of the Dragon Faunus?" Blake asked the group.

"Haven't heard that one," Yang responded as Ruby shook her head.

"It was one of the stories my grandfather told me before he passed," Weiss said. "He used to say if there was any Faunus you can trust. It was the Dragon Faunus."

"Well, a long time ago before the Great War, there was this woman simply known as the Dragon Faunus." Blake started. "In the beginning, she wasn't anyone special. Just your average ordinary Wolf Faunus-."

"Hey wait, how was she the Dragon Faunus when she was a Wolf Faunus?" Yang interrupted.

Blake scowled at Yang. "I was getting to that. Anyway, one day her village was attacked and ransacked by a group of bandits. The village managed to fend off the bandits but they were left weakened from the assault. Then came the Grimm. Against all odds, the woman stood defiant against the Grimm while her friends and family prayed for salvation. That's when it happened. The woman's Aura erupted from her body and physically changed her. Her wolf ears fell off and her body grew a pair of wings and a long scaly tail. Spikes grew down her spine to the end of her new tail and scales grew in certain areas on her body. All in all, the woman transformed into the Dragon Faunus."

"Wait! She transformed into the Dragon Faunus? How is that possible?" Ruby asked flabbergasted.

"No one really knows why it happens. Many Faunus believe that to become the Dragon Faunus, you have to be chosen. By who or what remains a mystery. So when the villagers saw her new appearance, hope filled the air. She rallied everyone together, Humans and Faunus, and defeated the Grimm. After a few years, she discovered her semblance, which was Precognition."

"She could control cogs?" Ruby asked slightly confused.

"No you dunce," Weiss remarked. "She had the ability to see into the future."

"Oh."

"Well, for a while she went out and help many people." Blake continued. "Both Humans and Faunus. And after a while, she started her own family. But one day she fell deathly ill and never recovered. When she was on her deathbed, She had one last vision. That vision was of when the next Dragon Faunus would arise. Before she passed, she told her friends and family her final prophecy."

"My grandfather never knew that part of the story," Weiss said surprised. "Care to tell us, Blake?"

Weiss, Yang, Elena, and Ruby got slightly closer to Blake so they wouldn't miss any details.

Blake just chuckled. "Might as well. The prophecy went like this. Before the next Dragon Faunus arises, there will be five signs. Warriors of Silver, a Giant of Metal with a Heart of Fire, Four Dragons of Light, Soldiers of Red and Blue, and Mercenaries of Red. To defend the ones they love the Dragon Faunus will rise."

Yang and Ruby quickly looked at each other before turning their attention back at Blake.

"Is that why this rock reminded you of that story?" Ruby asked holding up the stone she found.

Blake nodded.

"Well, I for one wonder how that prophecy will be fulfilled," Weiss said. "Dragons don't exist except for the Grimm variants. But those would count as Dragons of Darkness, not Dragons of Light."

"Yeah, that would be interesting to see." Elena said with a bit of a yawn managing to sneak its way in.

"Tired Elena?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah. Mom had me training all day so that we would know my limits." Elena replied. "At least we didn't have to fight any Grimm today."

At that moment they arrived in front of their dorm rooms and Elena said her goodnights before heading into her dorm room.

"So, speaking about Grimm," Yang said as she and the rest of team RWBY entered their dorm, "Any guesses on what killed that Nevermore if it wasn't someone from Beacon?"

"A professional Huntsman most likely," Weiss said.

"I've read that territorial disputes between Nevermores can get pretty serious," Blake pitched in.

"That would explain it being killed in the air," Weiss agreed.

"Problem with that was that I didn't sense any others attacking it before it died," Ruby added in.

"Could have been the mother of that egg," Yang jabbed at Ruby.

Ruby rolled her eyes. "It's a rock, Yang, nothing could lay an egg like this."

"Not even a dragon?" Yang received a pillow to the face for that last one. "Come on, admit it! That would be so cool!"

"Yes it would, but dragons aren't real." Ruby looked at Yang. The look on her face said it all. "I'm not going to hear the end of this for a while, am I?"

Yang cocked her head to the side, a large smile forming on her face, "Nope."

Ruby sighed. "I should have kept my mouth shut," she mumbled. She looked over at her and Weiss's shared dresser. Her side should be big enough to hold the rock. She set it down on top, then took out her pajamas from the dresser. As she was turning around, Ruby thought she saw the rock move. She looked closely at it for a few seconds then shrugged. She must have bumped the dresser.

[...]

**A/N: Well I hope you all enjoyed this new chapter and with the holidays just around the corner, I wish everyone a merry Christmas in case the next chapter isn't out before then.**

**Anyway that Surgery that I'm going through with is on Friday. Let's hope I'm not stuck in the hospital for over Christmas this year.**

**But anyway, I can't wait to start writing the next chapter. Expect a lot of cuteness and guys please post reviews. I want to read them so I can tell how good or bad I'm doing.**

**B/N: Welp… starting from the beginning… ah well. Let's do this! -Pokeman1280**

**B/N: A few grammar mistakes here and there. It's been so long since I've read A Roses Scales… time to go back through my favorites list! - rocketmce**


	15. The Hatchling

**A/N: Hey guys, the surgery was successful and I am out of the hospital. I would have written during my recovery but I had needles stuck in both of my hands for the medications they needed to pump into me. Those made it hard to use my hands let alone type. I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. I know I did.**

**Any way this chapter again has very little editing from the original but after my stay in the hospital it will lighten my mood immensely. Warning lots of cuteness incoming.**

**Enjoy!**

**[...]**

Ruby woke in the middle of the night. Something was rolling around. She wasn't one to wake up to sounds in the middle of the night because of Yang's snoring. Then again, Weiss did make Yang take something starting the second week of classes to stop that. Ruby lifted her head and groggily looked through half lidded eyes around her team's dorm, but couldn't see much past the bed sheet above her. Whatever was making the noise stopped. Ruby let her head fall back onto her pillow.

Just as she felt she was returning to her dream about being 'attacked' by a horde of kittens and puppies, the sound started up again, this time a lot louder. Ruby groaned and buried her head beneath her pillow. They just _had _to have party teams on all sides. Didn't they know the value of rest on the battlefield? It might as well be the same thing in school at points. It stopped again a short while later. _I swear, if they start whatever it is again…_

Of course, it started up again immediately after. Ruby groaned and lifted the pillow off her head. She listened in closely to figure out who to report to the RAs. It would be _so _great seeing CRDL being scolded by people a lot smaller than them, and possibly both Teresa and Goodwitch on top of that. Ruby might have to bring out the popcorn.

But as she was waking up, she noticed something. It was too clear to be coming through the walls or ceiling. A few thunks against what sounded like a wall confirmed it.

There was something in the room.

Ruby pushed herself off the bed to sit up. She searched the room again for anything that could be making a sound like that. In the faint moonlight, she couldn't see much. Even Yang was shifting in her sleep, and she was usually dead to the world until her obnoxious alarm rang. Ruby traced the sound back to near the foot of her bed where her and Weiss' shared dresser stood. She grimaced. Something was in or on her clothes.

Ruby swung her legs off her bed and dropped to the floor. She tried to land quietly as possible so she wouldn't wake up Weiss. That failed. Weiss sat up in her bead, and her faint glare tore into Ruby. "What do you think you're doing?" her voice was as cold as her nickname.

"Shh." Ruby brought a finger to her lips, then pointed at the dresser. As she did, a high pitched squeak came from the general direction. Ruby grimaced. She only knew of one thing that made that kind of noise, and there weren't any mouse traps around to take care of it.

Slight movement caught Ruby's eye. The stone she found the day before shook back and forth with surprising ferocity. What was that rat doing? The stone hit the wall a few more times, making Blake and Yang groan in their beds. After a particularly violent shake, the stone rolled off the dresser.

Yang and Blake jerked awake in their beds, and the former rolled over. "What's with the early morning wake up call?"

"There's something besides us that's alive in here." Weiss rose from her bed and she stared right at the dresser.

"Mosquitos don't make that kind of noise," Yang whined. Another squeak filled the room, this one sounded physically lower for whatever reason. "Okay, that's not a bug." Yang sounded wide awake. "Hey Blake-"

"Don't say anything," Blake scolded. She sat up in her bed and looked at the area. "I'm not seeing it."

"Lights are going on," Ruby called. She crossed the room and flipped the light switch. The expected pained moans came from her three teammates while Ruby resisted. She turned to the dresser and looked it over. Weiss made sure the space was clean before the trip out to the Emerald Forest. Any mess the rat would have made should have stuck out like a sore thumb. There was nothing, not even any dust.

"What?" Ruby looked at the wall the dresser was pressed up against, then at the stone on the floor, then back again. Wouldn't anything hitting the other side of the wall make her bed swing? Another squeak, and Ruby looked directly at the source. The stone started shaking on its own, with nothing around it. "Uh, guys? I don't think we have a rat problem."

Yang dropped from her bed and she stared openly at the stone. "Please tell me we didn't pick up a time bomb or something."

Weiss took a step back. "Way to put that thought in my head."

The stone shook faster than ever before and a crack appeared on its side. Everyone took a step back that time. "Well Yang," Blake said, "Looks like you were right about it being an egg."

Yang chuckled with little humor. "For once I'm not sure being right was the best thing." The cracks spread across the surface of the stone, er, egg, if that's what it was. A piece fell out, followed by the loudest squeak yet. A single white claw stuck out of the egg and scratched at the surface. More pieces were pushed out and a tiny red paw emerged from the egg. With new leverage, the paw pushed more pieces out of the way. An angled head pushed its way out of the hole and gave another loud squeak. Another paw joined the first and the head and healed widen the hole.

With one last effort, the creature pushed forward and the egg broke open. It stumbled free of the shell. Some sort of goop covered its scales and trailed across the floor. Its tail looked slightly too long for its stocky body. Skeletal, translucent red wings rose on either side of its back.

Ruby gasped and looked up. Her whole team exchanged looks. "I… I can't believe it," Blake breathed. "The legend is real."

"Did… this just happen?" Weiss asked.

Blake snapped out of her trance and faced Weiss. "You mean, what…" she looked back down at the animal, "I have to assume is a dragon, just hatched on our floor? Yeah. That happened."

"Hey Blake? Isn't this one of the dragons from that story you told us yesterday?" Yang asked.

"It has to be," Blake responded. "But where are the other three?"

Ruby returned her eyes to the dragon… hatchling she thought they were called. It slowly spun in a circle, looking up at the girls around it, wagging its tail all the way. When it reached Ruby, it raised its wings and arched its back. A strange purr escaped its throat.

"It's. So. Cute!" Ruby brought her fists up to her cheeks as she beamed down at the cutie.

"Looks like I owe you some cookies Ruby," Yang said while scratching her head. "Who'd have thought I'd have to dig up mom's old recipe."

Ruby knelt down in front of the hatchling. "Hey there little guy," She said as she reached out with her left hand to pet it.

Lightning shot up her arm. She gasped and her eyes bulged. It felt like she was being burnt and frozen at the same time. She fell into the corner of the room. Her limbs twitched around without her command. Somewhere in the pain, someone called her name. She was too busy trying not to scream to care who. She was being torn apart from the inside out.

Just when she thought she'd pass out from the pain, it stopped. Ruby's shoulders slumped and her head tilted forward. "Ow," She moaned. She opened her eyes, she didn't realize she had closed them. Water blocked her view, so she blinked a few times to clear them.

From nowhere, Ruby felt panic rising in her. She looked around the room and saw Yang arming Ember Celica by her bed. "Yang? W… what are you doing?"

Yang turned to Ruby, her eyes red. "Ruby, back away from the wall."

"What?" Ruby looked between Weiss and Blake. "What's going on?"

"That _thing_ attacked you!" Weiss pointed at Ruby's left arm.

Ruby snapped her head to the area. The hatchling was curled up behind her arm. She shook terribly and stared at Yang with wide eyes. She was terrified… Why did Ruby _know_ she was terrified? Ruby reached over with her right hand and touched the hatchling's snout. Her three teammates made to jump forward, but held back. The film of egg fluid on the hatchling's head was warm and sticky. With a whimper, the poor baby dragon pushed her head into Ruby's hand.

"I think that was a one-time thing." Ruby ran her hand along the side of the hatchling's head. Some of the panic from earlier disappeared… why was she scared? Yang was _protecting _her, not fighting her.

"So what if it was a one-time thing!" Yang pointed at the hatching. "That _thing_ attacked you! What's stopping it from doing it again?"

The panic grew again. Ruby looked at the hatchling. She started shaking even more. The hatchling looked up at Ruby. Something touched the girl's mind… how was that even possible? Was… was the panic coming from the dragon?

Ruby stuck a hand out towards her sister. "Yang, you need to calm down. You're scaring her."

"_I'm _scaring _her? She _attacked _you!"_ Yang blinked and narrowed her eyes. "Her?"

"Better than calling her it."

"Are you defending it?"

"Yang! Use your head!" Ruby pled. "You saw her before. She was wagging her tail like a puppy. She was happy! Now look at her." Ruby looked back at the hatchling. Her little red eyes stared up at Ruby. A cute little whimper came from her throat, kind of like Zwei as a puppy. Ruby caressed the hatchling's head. "I don't think she meant to do it."

Ruby looked back up at her sister. Yang's eyes switched back to their normal lilac. She sighed. "Ruby, I'm glad you're alright, but that thing hurt you! You looked like you were having a seizure!"

Another whimper came from Ruby's side. She looked down at the hatchling. She felt sorry for her… or did the hatchling feel sorry for Ruby? Though it hurt her head to think about it, Ruby thought it was the latter. "I _know_ she didn't mean it."

Yang's arms shook. She was fighting herself. "Ruby…"

"Yang, please put your gauntlets down." Ruby stuck a hand out towards her sister while the other covered the hatchling.

Yang hesitated, then sighed and deactivated Ember Celica, taking the two gauntlets off. Ruby let her shoulders fall, and she felt some of the tension leave the room. Blake and Weiss exchanged nervous glances, but stayed silent.

The hatchling stopped shaking and slowly climbed onto Ruby's lap. She stayed close to Ruby's stomach and whimpered up at Yang. Yang shot a glare at her. The hatchling squeaked and climbed up to Ruby's shoulder. The poor girl started to shake and whimper again. Ruby reached up with her opposite hand and began to pet the trembling dragon, ignoring the egg fluid. "You don't need to be scared," she whispered. "No one's going to hurt you, you're with friends."

Ruby felt some of the fear fade away. These… extra emotions had to be coming from the hatchling. The hatchling pulled her head back and locked her tiny red eyes with Ruby's. She whimpered again and rubbed her face against Ruby's cheek. The other three people in the room recoiled, and Yang completely turned away.

The baby dragon pulled her head away and licked Ruby's cheek. She then freed herself from Ruby's arms and walked off her lap. The hatchling sniffed the air and squeaked a few times. Ruby got another feeling that definitely couldn't be her at that time of night. "I think she's hungry."

All humans turned to the sole Faunus in the room. "Why are you all looking at me?" Blake asked.

"We all know you have a secret tuna stash, Blake." Yang threw a glance at the hatchling, then faced her bed again.

Blake's bow tilted backwards, then she turned to her and Yang's shared dresser and pulled out the top drawer. She pulled out several stacks of clothes before grabbing a large can of tuna. "You guys owe me."

The hatchling stared up at Blake with her head cocked. Blake pulled the teb on the can. Almost instantly, the hatchling raised her wings and and squeaked happily. After staring down for a second, Blake slowly set the can down on the floor. The hungry hatchling waited until Blake's hand pulled away before pouncing on the food. She buried her face in the fish and didn't pull her shout out until the can was clean. A cute burp later, she walked forward and rubbed her side against Blake's legs. She looked up at Blake and whimpered again.

The corners of Blake's lips raised. "That's not fair." she took another can from the drawer and opened it as well. Once again, the baby dragon waited until Blake's hand left before diving in.

Ruby felt a smile building on her own face. Something about watching the hatchling eat made her feel warm inside, and not just because it felt like her stomach was filling up without eating anything. It felt… right.

Weiss pointed at hatching, then at Ruby, and back again. "But, how? Is this the same dragon that was hiding behind you?"

"Yep." Ruby smiled up at her partner. "I guess it's a baby thing. Or a… dragon thing."

Another squeak caught Ruby's attention. It looked like the cutie was begging for more food from Blake. "Hungry little thing, aren't you?" Blake received another squeak in response.

Ruby allowed herself a small laugh, then she looked up at her sister. Yang was looking at the hatchling through the side of her eye. A grimace formed on her lips, but it didn't look like it was aimed at the hatchling. "Yang? Something wrong?" Ruby finally pushed herself off the floor and walked to her sister's side.

Yang turned her head halfway to meet Ruby, but still couldn't meet Ruby's eyes. "I'm sorry, it- she hurt you. I haven't seen you in that much pain since you broke your arm before Signal." She paused and looked at the hatchling on the floor. The cutie had rolled onto her back and Weiss rubbed her belly, dragging out the same purr from before. Yang winced. "Where was this right when she hatched? Why'd she hurt you?" she shook her head and finally met Ruby's gaze. "She hurt you. I can't get that out of my head. The rest of you may be convinced, but I'm not."

Ruby dipped her head. "Give her a chance? Like Weiss and Blake? Does that look like the face of evil?" She gestured at the hatchling, who was now eating out of yet another can of tuna while Weiss scratched her back.

"No." Yang shook her head. "But…"

"Please?" Ruby put on the best puppy dog face she could manage.

Yang sighed. "Blake's right. This isn't fair." She walked toward where the cutie was eating and knelt down. The hatchling looked at Yang and squeaked. She jumped, then his behind Weiss' legs. Yang stuck an arm out. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry."

The hatchling stuck her head out from behind Weiss' legs. She sniffed the air and flicked her tongue out. She looked up at Ruby as if asking if it was safe. "It's okay," Ruby soothed. "She's nice when you get to know her."

The cutie left the shield provided by Weiss' legs. She slowly walked toward Yang's outstretched hand and sniffed it. A hum exploded out her throat and she pressed her head into Yang's hand.

That got a smile out of Yang. "Ya know, for an animal with scales, you sure are soft." The hatchling continued to purr as she pushed her body against the hand. "I guess she forgives easily."

"I think she gets that from me." Ruby gazed down at the baby dragon.

"Are you saying you've rubbed off on her?" Weiss asked. "Your happiness is infectious, but it can't win over someone in less than twenty minutes."

"It's not that, it's…" Ruby bit her lip. Should she tell them? She wasn't even sure if she was right about what was going on. "I _think_ I can feel her emotions, and if that's true, I'm guessing she can feel mine."

The rest of her team looked at Ruby like she suddenly had two heads. "Did you hit your head when you fell?" Weiss asked.

"I don't know how to describe it," Ruby shook her head, "but when she was hiding behind me, I was scared of Yang." Said person looked up at Ruby like she'd been stabbed in the chest. "But that disappeared as soon as she hugged me." The hatchling looked up at Ruby and cocked her head.

A knock on the door made everyone in the room jump. "Uh guys, Everything okay in there?" Jaune asked. "We heard yelling and-"

"We're fine, Jaune," Ruby paused as she thought it over. Should she say something now, or save it. "I just… fell out of bed." _That's not going to work._

"Oh, well if your alright, we are going to bed, night Ruby." Hunter's voice sounded through the door followed by some footsteps signaling both Jaune and Hunter's departure.

Weiss brought a hand to her face. "How did they believe that?"

"I thought you would have told them," Blake said.

Ruby shrugged. "Maybe when we know what's going on. And," she looked down at the cutie, "I don't want to overwhelm her. And it's kind of a hard thing to explain late at night, and through a door."

The hatchling squeaked for attention again. Everyone looked down at her. She was looking up at Blake with those same wide eyes from before. Blake held her arms up in surrender. "I'm sorry, that's all I had." The hatchling hung her head and whimpered. She walked over to Ruby's side and looked up. When she met Ruby's eyes, her own brightened and her wings raised. She hummed and ran her side against Ruby's legs.

Ruby knelt down and pet her dragon, ignoring the egg fluid that still coated the hatchling's scales. "Ah well, looks like we're going to have to make another stop in Vale." She froze in place. "Oh. How are we going to explain that to dad?"

"I could sneak some things out of the cafeteria," Blake offered. "I have… experience."

"Wha… oh." Ruby flicked her eyes to Weiss. The heiress shot Blake a look, but shook it off. "If we can do this without breaking any rules, I'll take it."

"What about breaking dad's rules?" Yang asked with a slight smirk.

"I'm more scared of professor Goodwitch than dad." Yang gave a sideways nod, but Ruby froze again. "Aaand we've been making enough noise to wake up both JNPR and SPHR." She looked at the walls that separated them from the other teams. The tables had turned from when she originally woke up. "That's not good."

The rest of the team exchanged glances. Yang shrugged. "Ah well. Not like we can make it any worse."

"So what are you going to name her?" Weiss suddenly asked.

Ruby blinked at her partner. "I… hadn't thought about it. Why'd you ask?"

"I, uh, well, it appears you're going to keep her around for a while. I figured it would be a good idea to give her a name."

"You like her." Ruby smirked.

"Well what's not to like?" Weiss knelt down next to the hatchling and stroked her back. "She's cute, she's a cuddler, she's… ahh!" She leaned forward and rubbed her nose against the baby dragon's snout. The hatchling stuck her tongue out and licked Weiss' nose.

Ruby Took a step back and watched her partner play with the hatchling. The cutie looked up at Ruby, then leaned into Weiss' scratches. Weiss was saying various shades of red at the dragon. Ruby tried to come up with ones herself. The hatchling was a slightly dark shade of red, so that threw out all other colors out the window. There was also the possibility that her dragon was male, with no physical indicators one way or the other. The name had to fit both just in case.

After a while, she thought she came up with one thatWeiss hadn't said. Ruby knelt down by the hatchling. The cutie squeaked and jumped out of Weiss' grip and onto Ruby's knee. She looked up and tried to lick Ruby's face. "Hey, how would you like being called Cerise?"

The dragon hummed happily and pressed her snout against Ruby's nose. Ruby pet Cerise a few times, then saw something on her hand. Not only was it covered with the same egg fluid as Cerise' scales and wings, but a silvery-white mark had appeared in the center of her hand, roughly where Cerise first touched it. Even on her pale skin, it stuck out like a sore thumb. "Oh. That's different."

"Something wrong, Ruby?" Weiss asked.

"I may need to borrow some light gloves tomorrow." Ruby turned her palm to her teammates.

All three of them looked closely at it. "Did she do that to you?" Yang asked. She narrowed her eyes at Cerise.

"I'm guessing so." Ruby put herself slightly in between Yang and Cerise. "If she did, she didn't mean it." For whatever reason, Cerise whimpered and laid her head across Ruby's leg. "I don't even feel it."

Yang's eyes flicked to Ruby and they softened. "If you say so" She didn't sound convinced.

Ruby returned her attention to Cerise. "How does having your first bath sound?" The hatchling lifted her head and hummed happily. "I'll take that as a yes." Ruby scooped Cerise up and walked into the team's bathroom. She set the hatchling down on the counter top before flicking on the lights. Cerise stared up at the light and her wings raised. Ruby smiled at the sight before pulling the pin behind one of the facets and turned it on. She also took Yang's towel from where it hung on the wall and tossed it back into the room for the others to wipe the egg goop off themselves.

Cerise stared at the running water with her head cocked. "Just let me know if it's a good temperature." Ruby kept her hand on the temperature control as Cerise dipped a foot in. The hatchling hummed and jumped into the sink. She ran her back under the falling water like it was a shower. Maybe what would have worked on its own too.

Ruby turned off the water, much to Cerise' disappointment, and grabbed her washcloth. "Sorry. Don't want it to overflow." She started wiping down her dragon's back. "Where'd you come from anyway? There aren't any dragons around here. I didn't even know you existed." Cerise looked up to Ruby and cocked her head. "You're supposed to be legends, unless you count the Grimm variations, but you're obviously not a Grimm."

Ruby heard beds creaking behind her. She turned her head back to the room and saw it go dark. Cerise whimpered again. Ruby looked back at her dragon. "Afraid of the dark?" Cerise didn't make another sound, she just looked roughly toward where Yang's bed was. "Afraid of Yang?" Cerise bobbed her head.

"Oh." Ruby set the washcloth down and cupped Cerise' head in her hands. "I told you before, Yang's nice. Her first impressions are kind of all over the place. She's my sister, and I love her to death. I trust her, and she trusts me. Just act all cute like this, and she'll fall for you by bedtime tomorrow."

Cerise hummed, then her eyes half lidded. She yawned without getting any of her bathwater in her mouth. "Tired?" Ruby pulled Cerise out of the sink and pulled the pin up again. She turned on the facet again and ran her hands through to get them nice and wet. Then she lightly scrubbed all the places where the egg fluid stuck around. With that done, she grabbed her towel and wiped Cerise and herself down.

With both of them dry enough, Ruby turned off the bathroom light, waiting a few seconds for her eyes to adjust to the darkness, and walked back to the main room. Ruby moved to place Cerise down, but her dragon clutched on. She whimpered and looked up at Ruby with pleading eyes. "You want to stay with me?" The hatchling nodded frantically. Ruby smiled. "Of course."

Ruby reached up and placed her on the top bunk. Ruby followed soon after and laid down in her normal spot. She looked around the dark room at her teammates. As soon as her eyes fell on Yang, her sister rolled over. Her shoulders slumped. Yang would come around. She laid back on her pillow and pulled the covers over herself. Right before Ruby closed her eyes, Cerise laid down, snuggling her right arm. "Good night Cerise," She whispered, then fell asleep, with her dragon sleeping soundly beside her.

**[...]**

**A/N: Well everyone. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I wish you all a happy new year.**

**B/N: Gosh dangit, hatchling Cerise always gets me… Then again, that's most baby animals. -Pokeman1280**


	16. New Discoveries

**A/N: Sorry for the long wait. Got a bit distracted again and had to recover from the flu, which is not good for my health at this time. Anyway, thank you for your patience, here's an extra long chapter!**

**Enjoy!**

**[...]**

Aaron looked at the sprawling city before him. His nervousness about going into the strange place grew by the second. There were so many unknowns. He barely knew any words in Dwarvish, what if the people here spoke a language that didn't exist in Alasgaësia? He knew he had to blend in, so that meant getting the right kind of clothes and acting like the majority of people on the street. Aaron's undercover training might as well not exist. Then again, he always did prefer learning on the job.

Nalia crawled up next to her Rider. _I feel your doubts about going into the city, _she said. _Are you sure you don't want to search for the egg with me?_

"I'm sure," Aaron replied. "We need to know who we'll be living with. We don't know if they'll like having a dragon sleeping just outside their walls."

_But their castle doesn't have any walls._ Nalia chuckled at her own joke.

Aaron gave his dragon a playful shove. "You know what I mean. We don't want them storming this mountain to take us out." He shook his head and his tone turned serious. "We have to protect the remaining eggs. I know we'll find the other. We have to."

Nalia looked at her bond-mate in the eyes. _Be careful down there. Don't attract attention to yourself, and please, don't add any more scars._

Aaron placed a hand on his dragon's snout. "If I had a reason to, by definition I'd be attracting attention. I'm more worried about you and those creatures." He stood up and shouldered his makeshift pack and buckled on his sword. "I'll be back before sundown, hopefully with some useful information. I'll contact you when I'm in the city." With that, the Rider and dragon separated on their respective missions.

Aaron hiked down the mountain and through the forest like he had many times in Alagaësia. The normal wildlife he'd see back home became less and less prominent as we walked. The bottom of the mountain just felt evil. He grabbed his sword and pulled it a few inches from its scabbard. Though he didn't see anything through most of his hike, a few black creatures popped in and out, but they didn't seem to notice him.

An hour into the hike, Aaron found a well-worn trail leading toward the city. He quickly cast an invisibility spell on himself and proceeded to the city. A few other people walked the trail and all of them were armed, with swords or otherwise. A couple carried black, rectangular things that had a hole in the front of them. The men with them carried them like one would a bow while hunting.

Eventually the tree line started to thin out, as did the evil feeling of the forest. The tall buildings seen from the mountain started peaking over the remaining trees. Aaron heard strange whirring noises getting louder with each step. He didn't know of anything that could make that kind of noise, and there were a lot of things making it. The Rider made a mental note to figure out what made it.

The trail suddenly converged into a full fledged road and houses mixed in with the trees. Strange metal, wheeled contraptions sat outside or even inside many of the houses. No people walked down the center of the black, paved road, only on slightly raised gray sections, which struck Aaron as strange. In every city he'd been in, every inch of the road was used by people. _Why have such a wide road if most of it is unused?_ He thought to himself.

Aaron's answer wasn't long in coming. Another whirring noise started behind him and rapidly increased in volume. He turned around and saw one of the metal machines roll down the right side of the black section almost as fast as a horse at full gallop. A person sat inside holding another wheel. A light on its right side started flashing as it passed Aaron. The vehicle slowed down and turned a corner.

_Nalia,_ Aaron called out with his mind. _They have wagons that can move by themselves here._

The dragon took a few seconds to respond. _It seems there are magic users here after all if they can do that._

Aaron stretched his mind out to a stationary carriage to gauge the amount of magic in it. He found none, so he searched one that was moving. Still, he only felt the person inside the carriage, and he wasn't a magician. _These things aren't magical, and they have no life of their own. They might as well be rocks._

Surprise radiated off Nalia. _Is that even possible?_

_Unless there was something in the water this morning, I'm looking at it._

_If that is the kind of transportation they have, I shudder to think of their weapons._

Aaron thought back to the travelers he saw on the trail. _I've seen some of them. They still use weapons that we've seen before, along with some black rectangle thing that I think can be used in place of a bow. Still, if it comes to a fight, my wards should hold. _Aaron paused. _Anything on your end yet?_

Nalia mentally sighed. _Nothing yet, not even any more of those winged creatures. They seemed eager enough to attack us yesterday, I wonder what happened._

_No news is good news. Keep looking, it's out there somewhere. I'll contact you again when I'm presentable in this city._ Aaron broke the connection and turned his eyes to the people who lived in the area. If he wasn't invisible, he'd stick out like a sore thumb. More often than not, the people were exceptionally pale. Only a few had any tan color to them at all but enough so Aaron didn't have to change his complexion. Men wore a wide range of clothing, from colorful shorts that stopped at the knee to heavy black jerkins with pieces of cloth tied around their necks. Women wore similar casual clothing as the men, but donned more familiar dresses for presumably formal events. Aaron frowned. He didn't have any of the local currency to get appropriate clothing for this city. Luckily, all cities were full of pickpockets. He'd just 'liberate' some of that currency, since finding the rightful owners would be nearly impossible.

The fact that random people carried weapons crossed all demographics in the area. Almost none of them looked like soldiers. Aaron couldn't place a pattern. _This place must be in troubled times if so many take weapons everywhere,_ he thought.

Buildings got bigger as he moved near the center of the city. Aaron listened in on a few conversations, and surprisingly they spoke the same language. The writing on the building showed the same thing. He counted his lucky stars and pressed onward.

Aaron walked invisibly down a particularly busy street, searching with his mind for pickpockets. He focused in on a girl with green hair who seemed very confident with her skills. Aaron decided to knock her down a few notches. Getting up close, he cast a spell so the pickpocket would feel nothing, then pulled several wallets out of her own pocket.

Aaron quickly added the wallets to his invisibility spell and walked down a side alley. He couldn't believe he was back to his childhood habit. In order to survive on the streets of Teirm, he had to steal money and food. He never liked it, but it was necessary until his adopted parents took him in. The Rider was appalled how easy it came back to him, and how easy it was with magic.

When he was sure he was alone and couldn't be seen, Aaron ended his invisibility spell to inspect the wallets. None of them felt particularly heavy, and all were less than an inch thick. He opened one of them and was instantly confused. Instead of the expected coin, several rigid rectangles of an unknown material lay in various sleeves. Each sleeve had a different color in it, presumably each with different values. The rest of the wallets had the same things in them. He sighed and recast his invisibility spell. While he had no idea how much he carried, he could always spy on businesses to see payment take place.

Aaron returned to the street and searched for a clothing shop, not that it was a hard task. They were everywhere. He eventually chose one called Old Blue and followed a group in so he didn't have to use the doors himself. The store was huge compared to any in Alagaësia. The size of half of the men's section at Old Blue was the size of a normal shop back home. Aaron was at least glad he got some choices.

Still, Aaron chose clothing that most other people wore; some blue trousers called 'jeans', white socks and shoes, and a plain blue tunic. He put them all in his already invisible pack, and wandered around the store to see if there was anything else that was needed to complete his disguise. A green jerkin with white stripes on the sleeves and under the armpits caught his eye. He picked that up as well. Aaron also picked up a black backpack, a green cap, blue 'sunglasses', and a pair of white gloves to keep his gedwëy ignasia hidden from view. He assumed the numbers above the pieces of clothing were the prices.

At the front of the store, Aaron spied several people pay for their clothes for several minutes to figure out how much each of the 'Lien' cards was worth. Eventually, he caught a pattern and grabbed the hundred and fifty 'Lien' needed to pay for everything. He slipped the cards into the drawer the salesperson used on the next customer. The process was a lot quicker than any he knew of.

He tried following someone out the doors, but as soon as he stepped between two tall, metal rectangles, something made a loud screeching noise. Aaron froze in place, in fear of being discovered. Instead one of the people who was receiving money waved the person Aaron was following through. "The system's been yelling all day," the woman said. "You're good."

With whatever that was out of the way, Aaron left the building behind another group. As he walked down the street, he felt something wet on his right arm. Was something he 'bought' wet in some way? He walked behind another building and ended his invisibility spell. He instantly saw a black ink stain that covered most of the jerkin. _What? Where did this come from?_ He flipped the jerkin over and saw a circular tan button on the back. The mess appeared to be coming from that. "Jierda." The button broke off, spilling out even more ink. Aaron jumped back to avoid being caught in the splash. Why would they ruin a new jerkin like that? Aaron shook his head. It was probably something the locals did to prevent theft.

Aaron held a hand over the mess and started chanting in the Ancient Language. The spell he was using worked for blood, and so far it was working on the ink. It took a while, but the black mess was removed from the jerkin. He returned his attention to his other new clothes to see if any of them had been soiled. Luckily, the jerkin was the only one that caught the mess. He quickly changed into his new outfit, hoping no one would come down the alley. Once finished, he looked at his reflection from a puddle on the ground. Even with his sword at his side, he thought that his appearance suited the city. He nodded to himself and walked back to the busy street.

No one seemed to notice Aaron, and he was perfectly fine with that. He roamed the streets looking at all the people and buildings, keeping passive on the outside and gasping in wonder on the inside. All the buildings, vehicles, and food seemed extraordinary. No Alagaësian city would look like this for many hundreds of years. He had only seen humans in this city. Could they have built all of this themselves? _Without _magic?

In his visual tour of the city, Aaron accidently bumped into someone. "Hey, watch it!" the guy said then turned and walked away. Aaron looked after the man and was shocked to see a long tail come out of his trousers. He looked around again, and for the first time noticed animalistic features on many of the people in the city, mainly antlers, ears, and tails. Aaron tried not to stare at people as he tried to figure out if these people were elves or not. He knew some elves transformed their appearance to animals which they thought most beautiful, but he never got the appeal. On closer inspection, however, these people were not elves, and they certainly weren't entirely human.

Aaron extended his mind to contact his dragon. _Find anything yet Nalia?_

_No,_ she sighed. _I've searched every place we flew over yesterday and everywhere within a few hundred feet of that. There do seem to be a few sets of human footprints though._

_You think someone took it?_

_I think we have to consider the possibility. I'll keep searching though. There has to be a clue somewhere._ Nalia pulled away, leaving Aaron alone in his head. He continued down the street and considered stretching his mind out to find out if someone in the city took the egg. It would be faster than looking door to door, but would also tip off any magicians that could prove hostile. The Rider shook his head in defeat. Either option left him open to hostilities, something he couldn't deal with while trying to keep a low profile.

Aaron worked over his problem so much he didn't notice the group of girls that came around the corner in front of him. He bumped forcibly into one of them and knocked her to the ground. The impact snapped him out of his trance, and he was horrified about what he did, and the reactions that were sure to come his way. "I'm sorry! My fault!" he said as he stuck out a hand to help the girl up. "I should have been paying more attention."

"You're right, you should have been paying attention," the white haired member of the group snapped. "You could have knocked her right into traffic!" the two other girls still standing seemed taken aback by the outburst.

"Weiss, I'm okay," the girl on the ground said as she and Aaron grabbed each other's gloved hands. He pulled the girl to her feet and got a good look at her. She looked to be about his age. Her hair was mainly black with some red accent. Silver eyes stared back. Her clothes consisted of a strange black and red dress and a red cloak around her shoulders. "It was an accident."

The one identified as Weiss stood down but still glared at Aaron. To avoid further confrontation he just walked down the street before anyone else could say anything. Still, he looked back at the girl he knocked down with interest. _There's something different about that girl…_

**[...]**

"There's something different about that guy," Ruby said aloud.

"I'll say!" Weiss spat. "He completely bowled you over!"

"Weiss, calm down," Blake said. "I could tell he was having a bad day."

"And how, pray tell, do you know that?"

"He was distracted enough to run right into Ruby, he spoke quickly, and he walked off in a hurry in the same direction."

"That is still no excuse to make other people's days worse."

"Don't judge Weiss, you never know what people are going through."

"What did you mean by different?" Yang chipped in to change the subject.

Ruby shrugged. "I don't really know, I just have a weird feeling that's all."

A large smile broke onto Yang's face. "Aww, my little sister has a crush on a guy she doesn't even know."

Ruby twirled around and punched Yang in the shoulder. "I do not! It's something else, it's…" she sighed. She had no idea how to describe it.

"You think it has something to do with you-know-who?" Blake asked.

"Probably? It was in my head whatever it was." the four girls continued walking towards the commercial district talking about random things but avoided talking about Cerise at Ruby's insistence. She didn't want news of her dragon getting out. If it was anything like Weiss and Blake said it could be, Ruby wouldn't be able to leave Beacon without having a camera directed at her or Cerise. It pained the girl to leave her dragon cooped up in their dorm, but luckily today there was staff meetings all day, allowing the students to do what they wanted to do or catch up on homework. Ruby asked both Team SPHR and Elena to look after Cerise after she made them swear secrecy or become Yang's punching bag for the rest of the school year. She trusted them with her dragon's well-being. JNPR would have been an option as well, but Nora couldn't keep a secret to save her life. Ozpin and Teresa might be able to help. Yang would have stayed behind, but she said she had to pick up something in the city today.

The team split up, with Weiss and Yang heading into the city to shop for Dust, clothes, and other necessities, and Ruby and Blake were heading to Vale's local library to meet up with someone Blake knew who could help with some information on dragons. Ruby didn't know how to take care of her dragon in the long term, and any bit of information, even urban legends would help.

"So Blake, who are we supposed to be meeting here?" Ruby asked as they both entered the library.

A smile formed on Blake's face. "Well…"

"That would be me," a familiar voice said.

Ruby turned and saw a guy walk up to the both of them. The man had short straight black hair. His skin tone was slightly tanner than Blake. He was wearing a plain black T-shirt, some dark blue jeans that was armor plated in some areas and plain blue tennis shoes. A pair of armored gauntlets covered his hands and arms with the one on his right arm stopping just above the elbow and the other one continuing up his arm. An open sleeveless green vest robe with crimson trimming lay on top of his shirt with a crimson pauldon on his left shoulder. A silver y leather strap held the pauldron and his sword in place. But what surprised Ruby was that the sword he carried wasn't just any sword. It was a Claymore's claymore. She looked at the man's eyes and saw silver staring back. Ruby then noticed his emblem on his vest, it looked like two crimson triangles pointing at each other horizontally with a line splitting the two triangles vertically. A silver sea dragon like pattern encircled the symbol completed the emblem.

Blake walked up to the guy and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Ruby, I would like you to meet my little brother. Jad, meet my team leader."

"Nice to meet you." Jad said. "Also, I'm actually taller than you Blake."

"Nice to meet you too," Ruby said with a smile before she started whispering. "I don't mean to be rude, but where are your ears?"

Jad smiled and a pair of cyan colored Aura cat ears formed on his head. "Oh? You mean these, right?" Jad said with a laugh.

Blake sighed. "Jad knock it off."

The Aura cat ears faded. "Fine, fine." he said still laughing.

"Umm, what?" Ruby asked.

"I'm not a Faunus, Ruby. I'm human." Jad responded. "Blake's parents adopted me after my parents were killed when I was younger and I'm only a few days younger than Blake. Let me introduce myself. My name is Jad Emberstone."

"Hello, I'm Ruby Rose," Ruby said. "So you can make cat ears with your Aura? What kind of semblance is that?"

"Oh, I can do much more than that." Jad smirked and held up the palm of his hand. An Aura butterfly formed on his hand and flew over to Blake, landing on her nose.

Blake focused in on the butterfly and tried to swat it away. It faded a moment later.

"My semblance is called Aura construct. I can create things made from my own Aura, but it has its limits."

"Oh, like what?" Ruby asked.

"Well, I can make a Scroll but it won't function as a normal one would and of course any type of food I can make, like an apple, but you couldn't eat it."

"That's so cool!"

Blake cleared her throat to get both of their attention.

"Ah, yes." Jad faced Ruby and began to whisper. "Blake told me about Cerise this morning and I promise to keep her a secret until your ready to tell everyone."

"Thank you," Ruby whispered back.

Jad nodded then continued. "Blake said that you needed help finding out some information to help take care of her."

Ruby nodded.

"Well, we do have a massive 'Scale' of information here at our disposal." Jad said trying to make a pun.

Both Ruby and Blake groaned.

"Not another one." Ruby said as they headed towards a free open computer. Jad quickly sat down and pulled up the library's book search engine and... Dust tube? He turned around and faced the two girls.

"So, do you want to go into mythologies or do you want to go into a more scientific route first?" Jad asked.

Ruby thought about it for a moment. "Let's go with the scientific stuff first."

Jad smiled and typed a few things in the library's search engine and a list of books popped up. Then he went over to the Dust tube search bar and typed in 'Dragons a legend made real.' A twelve year old video popped up and Jad clicked on the video. He paused it before it began playing and transferred the video to his, Ruby, and Blake's scrolls.

"That video is as close as you can get to the best scientific information you can get. Although, I believe they did get a bit of information wrong." Jad explained. He gave Blake a list of books and where to find them in the library. She left to go gather the books while Jad started typing up a second list of books. "These books explain the general legends and mythologies."

He and Ruby began to track down the books that Ruby needed. While doing so, Jad struck up a conversation with the young red reaper.

"Blake told me that you can sense Grimm as well." Jad said as he grabbed a book off one of the many shelves.

"Yep, though I'm still trying to get used to it. At times I'm still surprised how useful sensing yoki can be." Ruby said as she scratched the back of her head.

"So that's what it's called. I always called it a Grimm's fart." Jad chuckled.

Ruby failed to hold back a snort. "Why did you call it that?"

"There was this guy who would break into everyone's homes back in Kuo Kuana. When he tried to hide from the police under a market stall, he let out this huge fart, letting everyone know where he was and got arrested. Anyway, the next day was when I started to sense Grimm and to me, their yoki was like that guy's fart saying 'here I am!' It makes locating creeps a lot easier as well." Jad explained as he grabbed another two books off the shelves.

"Tell me about it. I hate how silent those things are." Ruby said before she got a good look at the claymore on his back. She noticed that the grip matched her grandma's lost claymore and the emblem was very similar, but still different. "Hey Jad? I was wondering, where did you get your claymore?"

"It was my mom's. From the journal she left me, she said the claymore belonged to an ancestor of ours. She also mentioned that if I didn't have a younger sister, that it was my duty to pass the claymore down to my future daughter. Whoever knows how long that will be." Jad said calmly as he scanned down a selection of books and found another book he was looking for.

"Well, the emblem on it looks a lot similar to the one that belonged to my grandma's." Ruby said as she gestured to help carry some of the books.

"The emblem wouldn't happen to have the two triangles rotated ninety degrees, would it?" Jad asked.

Ruby was surprised that he knew what one of the two emblems on her grandma's claymore looked like. "Yes, how did you know that?"

"In my mom's journal, she said that our ancestor had a close friend who carried a sister claymore to this one. Their emblems were so similar that you could rotate part of it and it would match the other. Though, the two swords never seen each other since my ancestor first carried it." Jad explained. "Do you know where your grandma's claymore is now?"

Ruby lowered her head a bit. "It was lost when my grandma died," She said sadly. "We still don't know where it is."

"Well, I hope you find it." Jad said as he handed some books over to Ruby. "I'm sure Compassion would like to see her sister again."

That got a smile out of Ruby. Jad grabbed the last of the books they needed and they both met back up with Blake at one of the reading areas. With all the books they gathered, it took some time to sort through all the information, even then the information was conflicted. It seemed to be a fifty-fifty split whether the books looked at dragons in a friendly light or as evil as Grimm. Also, it was a toss up on whether dragon scales were worth as much as gold or as little as paper. Still, none explained the mark on Ruby's hand or the intrusions on her mind.

After a few hours, Ruby and Blake figured they'd gotten all they could get from the books and decided they were going to watch the video Jad provided back in their dorm. Jad also helped them sort out the information they had and provided some useful details they would have missed. Jad volunteered to return the books for them allowing Blake and Ruby to head to their next destination sooner. Just as they were about to leave, the guy that knocked Ruby over opened the door. He froze when he saw the girls, then quickly turned for the history section. Ruby stared after him as she left the library. Something was tugging at the corner of her mind, the same thing that happened when they first met. "What is it about that guy?" she whispered to herself. If Blake heard, she didn't let on.

After a few minutes of walking to their next destination, a serious thought crossed Ruby's mind. "Hey Blake?"

"Yes?"

"Can you promise me to keep Jad from making puns in front of Yang while I do the same for her." Ruby asked.

Blake realized what Ruby was implying and quickly agreed.

Half an hour later they arrived at their next destination, the local VinCo food store. Hopefully they could get enough food to feed Cerise for the week. Ruby hoped the baby dragon ate more than just meat, what with Grimm attacks on farms growing more frequent and driving up the cost, and her and Yang's emergency credit card being directly linked to their dad's account. She knew she couldn't keep Cerise locked up forever, but she was still so little. There wouldn't be much stopping a fox trying to make a snack of her, let alone a grey wolf, or worse.

Still, meat was the only option that Ruby knew her dragon ate. She and Blake loaded up on fish, chicken, beef, ham, bacon, and a few other things that they thought a dragon would like. Ruby even picked up a carton of strawberries, reasoning if she liked them so much, so would her dragon. If not, she got them. Blake just rolled her eyes while failing to hide a smile.

The team regrouped on the road back to Beacon. Everyone had both their hands full except Yang who only carried one unmarked bag. Weiss told them how uneventful her and Yang's trip was, while Ruby and Blake informed the other two about what information they had gathered to help take care of the dragon.

"Who was the person helped you two at the library?" Weiss asked.

Ruby smiled. "Believe it or not, it was Blake's not so little brother Jad."

"Really?" Yang asked.

Both Ruby and Blake nodded.

"What's he like?" Weiss and Yang asked at the same time.

A smile formed on Ruby's face. "Get this. He's not a Faunus at all. He's human."

"But how does that work? If he and Blake are sibli-" Weiss said before Blake Cut her off.

"He's adopted."

"Oh, that explains it." Weiss said realizing the simple fact that she overlooked.

"His parents were close friends to mine. After they were killed, my parents adopted Jad and raised him like he was one of their own. His semblance made life easier for him as well growing up back home." Blake explained.

"It's awesome!" Ruby gushed. "He created these cute kitty ears out of Aura on his head then made an Aura butterfly that flew and landed on Blake's nose. I wonder what kind of weapons he can make with his semblance."

"And here I thought you'd be talking about the weapon he uses." Yang said jokingly.

"I was just getting to that. Anyway, turns out he carries a claymore as his weapon and not just any claymore. It's the sister blade to grandma's claymore. Even the emblems are so similar to each other." Ruby squealed.

Yang chuckled. "Well I can't wait to meet him."

It was at that moment a light gust of wind blew past the group, carrying a distinctive smell with it. Ruby snapped her head towards the bag Yang carried. "You didn't," She gasped.

Yang's shoulders slumped and she faked moaned, yet the smile gave her away. "It was supposed to be a surprise, dang wind." She pulled out a box of cookies from Ruby's favorite bakery in town. "Since I can't bake and I don't exactly have easy access to an oven, I figured I'd get you the next best thing."

Only the grocery bags Ruby carried kept her from jumping with joy. She settled with saying, "Yang, you're the best!"

Yang's smile grew on her face. "I am aren't I?" Suddenly she blinked a few times and she rubbed her head like she had a massive headache. "Uh, Ruby, I think I believe you about Cerise being in your head now."

"What?" Ruby looked at her sister in confusion.

"I have to agree with Yang on this one," Weiss said while rubbing her own head. "Your overreaction to things can be infectious, but I actually _felt_ it that time."

Ruby looked at Blake for a final confirmation. She just nodded.

Ruby took a few steps backward, unsure of what to say or do. She looked at her friends to see if she could get any support. Yang looked genuinely concerned while Weiss and Blake looked curious more than anything. Ruby meanwhile stood terrified. Where was this coming from? How'd it start? Then a worse thought came to her head and she looked back to the city. "How far did it go?" she whispered.

Yang put a hand on her sister's shoulder. "We'll figure this out, like we always do. Right now, we should get you back to Beacon. Less people will ask questions there." She turned and started back toward the school. "Hopefully."

The rest of the walk continued in silence, nobody wanting to incite another episode and Ruby trying to calm herself down. If she could do that, what else could she do? Could she read minds? Could she influence what other people thought? Ruby shook her head. She was excited and yet terrified at the same time. It was too much to handle at once.

Could her little Cerise be behind all this?

Ruby was so caught up in her own thoughts she didn't even realize she made it back to Beacon. She looked around at other students walking around and they didn't act like anything different had happened. No one paid team RWBY any mind as they passed through campus, not even team JNPR who were studying for the upcoming exams. Ruby released a sigh of relief when they reached their room.

"Hey guys! We're back." Yang said as she opened the door and they all quickly entered the room and closed the door.

"Welcome back." Shade said looking up from his notes.

Team SPHR was all laying on the floor in various states trying to study for the upcoming exams while Elena was helping each of them with a few things from Teresa's class and giving them some helpful insight from her own experiences. Little Cerise wandered to each of the five, ever curious about what they were doing, getting a few ear scratches and belly rubs in between. Cerise looked up and saw Ruby standing in front of the door. She let out a joyful squeak and pure joy flooded into Ruby's mind.

Cerise got up from her spot next to Elena and took a few running steps toward Ruby, leaping onto her shoulder. Ruby placed her bags next to the desk she used to study with and gave her dragon a little scratch under the chin. "I guess you missed me," she said. Cerise squeaked in agreement. "So how was she?"

"Oh, she was wonderful," Elena said getting a purr out of Cerise. "She was afraid of me for a moment but she warmed up to me."

"There was a moment when she sneezed while looking at my notes," Hunter added. "I was afraid my work was going to go up in flames. Thankfully nothing happened."

Petra let out a little chuckle while trying to hide the smile on her face behind the book she was studying.

"That dragon reminds me of Zwei as a puppy," Yang commented watching Cerise rub her head against Ruby's cheek.

Ruby laughed. "No, Zwei was more crazy than Cerise." Her hatchling started sniffing the air in the room, then locked her gaze on the bags Ruby brought with her. "You hungry? We bought some food specifically for you today." Cerise squeaked in delight then jumped off Ruby's shoulder.

Ruby pulled a package of fish out of the bag. She barely had it open when Cerise pounced on it. Her small dragon went to town on the fish like, well, a wild animal. Ruby crossed the room and grabbed the box of cookies from Yang. She opened it and popped two cookies into her mouth at the same time. As she grabbed a third Rona spoke up. "Uh, Ruby."

Ruby looked at Rona to see her pointing at Cerise. The hatchling squeaked when Ruby saw that her dragon had cleaned out the entire package. "How?" Ruby asked, even though Cerise couldn't respond. "All those fish weighed as much as you." Her small dragon just squeaked and looked at her with pleading eyes. Ruby's shoulders slumped in defeat. _This isn't going to work._ "Yang? Does dad have a Scroll with video conferencing yet?"

"Yang shrugged. "I don't think he's that far behind. Why?"

Ruby picked up Cerise, who chirped happily before licking Ruby's cheek. "I think it'll be easier to explain that way."

"Makes sense." Yang smirked. "Need me to call since your hands are full?"

"Please." Ruby smiled down at the cutie in her arms. Cerise hummed. Then climbed onto Ruby's shoulder. She crawled around Ruby's back so her neck and tail hung off opposite shoulders. "Comfortable?" Cerise hummed and rubbed her face against Ruby's.

Weiss squeaked from her bed. "Oh my gosh! How can she so cute?"

"Looks like Ice Queen's heart warmed up." Hunter said jokingly getting a snort from Shade.

"I like this new Weiss," Blake said. "Can Cerise stay like that forever?"

"Hey!" Weiss shot a glare at the three.

"Can you four keep it down?" Yang fake shouted. "I'm making a call here." She turned back to her Scroll and waved Ruby over. "Hey dad. How's it going?"

"About normal," their dad said. "How's it Yanging?" Ruby stood off to the side. She could see her dad, but he couldn't see her.

Yang smirked, but it fell off just as quickly. "That's debatable right now, actually."

Their dad's smile disappeared. "Something wrong?"

"Something… different. Ruby can explain it better." Yang turned her Scroll's camera toward Ruby.

"Hi dad." Ruby raised a hand and waved as best she could without disturbing Cerise.

"Hi Ruby." Her dad returned the wave, then leaned forward. "What's that around your neck?"

Ruby ran a finger under her dragon's chin. "Go on, Cerise. Say hi."

Cerise purred and chirped at the Scroll. Taiyang's eyes widened. "You got a lizard?" he asked. "I didn't know you liked them."

"Well, you're partially right." Ruby turned around so her and Cerise' back faced the Scroll. "She's a lizard, but she's more than that."

"Are those… wings?" Tai asked.

"Yep." Ruby her head back as best she could with Cerise wrapped around her. "We've all agreed that she's a dragon."

"She's absolutely adorable." Petra said out of view from the Scroll.

"Wow." her dad blinked and leaned back in his chair. The corners of his lips raised. "What? Having one for a big sister wasn't enough for you?"

Yang turned her Scroll back to herself. "I'm right here you know." She turned the Scroll back to Ruby.

Taiyang laughed then focused back on Ruby. "So what's the problem here? Looks like you've got a new friend.

Ruby turned back and bit her lower lip. "Unless we can somehow get her back to Patch, We have to feed her ourselves right now."

"That doesn't sound too hard. I'm sure Shade and Hunter's team can help out. How much does she eat?"

"You know those big fish bundles from the VinCo Deli? She ate an entire package before I could blink."

Her dad slumped in his chair. "Oh. That is a problem."

**[...]**

Professor Ozpin reviewed the latest reports handed to him by both Glynda and Teresa. "As you can see," his second in command said, "the concentration of Grimm in the Emerald Forest has dropped significantly in the past twenty-four hours. Expeditions professors had planned for today have had to be postponed or moved to Forever Fall. I haven't seen a drop this significant since the days before the last Grimm siege ten years ago."

"You believe this could be a prelude for an attack?" Ozpin asked, though he had his own theory on the matter.

"No," Teresa said as she looked out Ozpin's office window towards the Emerald Forest. "Someone or something is killing the Grimm out there. As far as I know, it's neither a fellow Claymore or an Awakened."

"I think we should at least be cautious and warn the Huntsman that guard the city if they haven't noticed already. If there is something dangerous out there, we can be ready." Professor Goodwitch said.

"It would do us well to be cautious. Professor Silver, with your ability to sense Grimm at far distances, can you keep an eye on the forest and notify me if there is any change." Ozpin asked the silver eyed warrior.

Tersa nodded.

"Glynda, will you notify please the defenders?"

"I will when I return to my office."

The intercom on Ozpin's desk buzzed. "Professor Ozpin, Ruby Rose is here to see you."

This was different. Occasionally team leaders would visit for one reason or another, usually to clear their teams for missions beyond their team's level. Ruby had yet to do so, not that it stopped her team in the past from going on unsanctioned missions. Ozpin flicked his eyes eyes to Glynda. "We are almost done here," she said.

Ozpin pressed the button for the intercom. "Send her up." He took his finger off the intercom. "What else do you have for me?"

"I have tested and reviewed every student currently enrolled in the school to see if they have the ability to sense yoki." Teresa said looking at the notes on her scroll. "With the exception of my daughter Elena, Ruby Rose is the only one so far who can sense Grimm and the creatures from my world. There may be others that enroll next semester or from other schools. I will notify you if I do find others."

Ozpin smiled. "Thank you, Professor Silver. Glynda anything you would like to add?"

"Two fourth year teams have earned enough credits to graduate one semester early. I have the paperwork right here." Professor Goodwitch placed a folder on Ozpin's desk.

The headmaster opened it and took a look through the teams. Teams CLOD and GYCR, Both far ahead of their compatriots. All credits were in order, and they have proven successful on multiple missions, both school assigned and freelance. "Do they know graduating early will disqualify them from the Tournament?"

"They are aware, and they all have reasons for not entering, whether financial or otherwise."

"Very well." Ozpin signed on the dotted line. "Remnant has received eight more outstanding Huntsmen." He handed the folder back to Glynda.

"They will be glad to hear that." Professor Goddwitch nodded.

The elevator beeped and the doors opened. Ruby stepped out, oddly with a backpack around her shoulders. Another first. "Miss Rose. This is a surprise."

"It's kind of one for me too." Ruby smiled, but it was forced. Her eyes flicked to Teresa then Professor Goodwitch and her smile wavered a bit.

"Something from your assignment in the Emerald Forest last night?" Professor Goodwitch asked.

"Yeah, but not in the way you're probably thinking." Ruby knelt down and took the backpack off. She grabbed the zippers on the top of the bag, but didn't open it. She looked between the three professors. "Promise you won't freak out?"

"You have my word," Ozpin said, with Glynda saying much the same thing. Teresa smiled and nodded her head.

Ruby bit her lip and unzipped her bag. She pulled the top apart, but didn't reach inside. "It's okay, Cerise. You can some out now."

A flash of red shot out of the bag. It hid behind Ruby and hissed at the bag. Ozpin rose from his chair and placed his hands flat on his desk. _It couldn't be._

"Miss Rose," Glynda said in a voice a step off a growl, "What is that?"

Ruby shrunk a bit. "We think it's one of the dragons from the legend Blake told us."

"And this… dragon came from the Emerald Forest?" Ozpin asked.

"Her egg did." Ruby scratched the hatchling's head, drawing out a purr.

"I thought it was a stone." Teresa said trying to hold back a chuckle as she watched Cerise lean into the scratches.

"That's what we thought, until she hatched late last night. Scared the rest of my team half to death." She winced. "If you've heard about my team making noise last night, it was that. Anyway, she hasn't wanted to leave my side since she hatched." The hatchling looked around Ruby and raised her neck. She trotted out from behind Ruby and towards the window Teresa was standing next to. "Except for now."

Ozpin watched the dragon's progress. She reached the window and gave another strange purr. Her neck and wings raised. Cerise turned her head and noticed Teresa standing next to her. The hatchling let out a little squeak and Teresa knelt down, holding out her hand. "Hello there little one."

Cerise cautiously sniffed Teresa's hand before rubbing her head against the Claymore. A smile formed on the silver eyed warrior face. After a few scratches from Teresa, the hatchling raced from one end of the office to the other, much like a kitten would do. Once she returned to her original spot, she turned to Ruby and chirped repeatedly at her.

"Not now, Cerise," Ruby said sadly. She walked forward and picked the dragon up. "I promise, when you get bigger and you can take care of yourself, you can go outside." The dragon's wing's dropped, then she climbed onto Ruby's shoulder and looked outside again.

"You plan on keeping your new pet here?" Professor Goodwitch crossed her arms.

"Where else can she go?" Ruby asked. I don't know how she'll act around crowds of people. I'm afraid of what would happen to her due to the legend. Blake told me there are some people out there that don't want to see it come true and will try to kill Cerise. She's too small to protect herself." Ruby wrapped a hand around her dragon's back. "At least in my room, my team can give her food and keep her safe."

"And when she gets too big?"

Ruby winced. "Hopefully that won't happen for a while."

Ozpin weighed his options. He likely knew more about these creatures than Ruby did. This dragon could be a boon to Ruby and her team in more ways than one, but with what recently claimed a cave in the forest, would Ruby be a target? "Very well"

"What?" Ruby blinked at Ozpin, and Glynda glared at him. "Just like that?"

"As long as… Cerise behaves herself, she will be welcome here for her own protection."

Ruby's face lit up like the sun, just like her mother's used to. "Thank you so much professor!" She bounced on her heels then returned her attention to her backpack. Cerise moaned then looked at the bag on the floor. She shrieked and jumped off Ruby's shoulder. She ran and hid behind Ozpin's desk. Ruby sighed and stuck her hand out to her dragon. "Come on, Cerise. Just one more time. After this, I promise you'll never go in here again." The hatchling hung her head and walked forward with her tail dragging on the floor. She stepped into the bag and looked up.

Ruby leaned forward and kissed her dragon on the snout. She zipped up the bag and put the straps over her shoulders. "Thank you for your time, professors." She stood up and smiled at Ozpin, Teresa, and Glynda. Before she turned to walk out, Teresa spoke up.

"Ruby, while you and your team may be able to take care of Cerise, I don't think you can be in two places at once."

Ruby froze in place. She hadn't thought about classes at all.

"But I believe I have a solution to that small problem," Teresa said calmly. "If you are okay with it. Elena can watch over Cerise while you and your team are in classes until she gets too big for your room."

Ruby's eyes lit up. "Thank you Teresa!" she turned and walked to the elevator and stepped inside.

As soon as the doors closed, Glynda turned to Ozpin. "Two things," she growled. "First, I know Miss Rose is a special case, but this is too much. If people find out we're allowing pets on campus, we'll be flooded with cats, dogs, parrots, and who knows what else that we'll be responsible for if something happens here. Second, what happens when that hatchling gets too big? Where are we going to put her? I know she's one of the dragons of the legend, but we don't have the means to house her once he gets past a certain size."

"I might have an idea for when Cerise gets too big," Teresa said calmly. "We can find the best place to relocate her with information provided to use from students and fellow staff members who have hunting experience. Not just hunting the Grimm, but wild animals."

"How are we going to do that?" Professor Goodwitch asked angrily. "I doubt Miss Rose would want news of her dragon getting out."

"We could make a written test for students." Teresa suggested. "The more details, the higher the grade, in a sense. If a student with high scores already knows about Cerise, then they can help out relocating her."

"That actually could work," Glynda said surprised.

Ozpin smiled as he grabbed his mug and took as sip. "Glynda, you remember Tenga, correct?"

Glynda groaned. "I will be lucky if I ever forget him." She blinked and faced the elevator. "Wait… No. That's impossible. No one has a Semblance like that."

"Who is Tenga?" Teresa asked.

"Someone who arrived here around the same time as Mr. Royal and Mr. Green." Ozpin explained before facing Professor Goodwitch. "If he is to be believed, it's not through a Semblance." He sat back down and picked up his Scroll. "This may also be the reason why Grimm activity is down." He pressed a button on his Scroll and a holographic green dragon appeared in the center of the room fighting off a Nevermore.

"What?" Glynda stared at the projection. "Where and when was this taken?"

"Last night by the cameras we have placed around the Emerald Forest." Ozpin stood up and both he and Teresa joined Professor Goodwitch. "It appears what he said has come true and the Legend of the Dragon Faunus is finally happening."

Glynda crossed her arms. "That bares the question. Is this the ally, or an enemy?"

**[...]**

**A/N: Well things are starting to happen and Jad is finally introduced! I know I teased him a few chapters ago but here he is.**

**A few other things happened. First I commissioned, artworks for Jad, Aaron, and Dahlia's Emblems and you can find them on my Deviantart page. Also if you want to see Elena's Emblem, just type in Claymore Black card into google images and the first one should be it. Second, the artist I commissioned to make Diamond Banshee finally got some new art equipment and is now working on the Jaeger.**

**Oh and those watching the Super Bowl. Go Chiefs!**

**B/N: And now I have something to point to when people ask me what Aaron's emblem looks like. Also, I agree with the Super Bowl pick. Go Chiefs! Go Mahomes!**


	17. Friends in Hidden Places

**A/N: Oh wow thank you everyone for the Five Thousand plus views for this story! I never expected to see this so soon.**

**[...]**

_**One week later…**_

Ruby stared out her dorm window at the courtyard below, waiting for both Yang and Elena's signal. They were waiting for the courtyard to be clear, and it being around midnight the day before exams started, it would not be much longer.

Ruby heard Cerise quietly rumble behind her. She turned around to look at her now large dragon. Cerise had grown to the size of a large dog in only a week. They just couldn't store the amount of food to feed Cerise in their dorm and the food they had ran out two days before. Team RWBY had to continually sneak large portions of food from the cafeteria. The floor continually creaked beneath her now considerable weight. Spikes started growing all the way along her spine except for one spot just behind her shoulders. Her scales were no longer soft to rub, they were sharp and easily cut skin. Claws that couldn't scratch the floor now gouged large chunks with every step. Yet despite all her physical changes, Cerise retained the personality she had when she first hatched.

"Cerise, you have to keep quiet," Ruby whispered. "People are sleeping, and we don't want to wake them up. Especially tonight." Cerise walked up to Ruby and nuzzled her.

Weiss shifted uncomfortably in her bed. "What's taking them so long? We should have had Cerise out of here twenty minutes ago."

"Weiss, they're making sure the coast is clear. It's not like Elena and Yang can clear the courtyard without attracting attention." Ruby looked back outside to find Yang in her pre-arranged spot, but Elena was nowhere to be seen. A minute later Elena appeared from the side of the building and reached her own pre-arranged place. Yang raised the palm of her right hand with three fingers raised. Elena raised her new, fully healed, left hand with four fingers raised. Ruby looked back at Blake, who had all four of her ears trained on the door and the hallway beyond. The Faunus just nodded. A silent buzz from Ruby's scroll signalled a text from Shade, Petra and Rona that the rest of the area was clear as well. The team leader locked eyes with Cerise. "Okay, let's get you outside."

Weiss and Ruby opened the window as far as it could go and carefully removed the screen. Ruby made a last minute once over of the courtyard and decided there wouldn't be a better time. She waved Cerise over. The dragon slowly walked over to the open window and poked her head out. She looked at Ruby as if to ask permission to fly out. "Fly to where Hunter is in the forest, I'll meet you there." The dragon nodded and jumped outside for the first time.

Back in the dorm room, Ruby felt her dragon's elation about being airborne. She wanted nothing more than to be up in the air with her, but Cerise couldn't carry Ruby's weight on the ground, much less the air. Ruby jumped out the window herself and followed her dragon on the ground. Yang gave her a thumbs up as Ruby passed by both her and Elena.

Cerise flew high over Beacon as planned then angled toward the Emerald Forest at full speed. Ruby had to activate her semblance in order to keep up. Even though it was the dragon's first time flying, she seemed to be doing a decent job at staying straight and keeping level, that is until a gust of wind blew her off balance. Cerise recovered quickly, but dropped to only a few dozen feet above the ground.

The pair entered the forest and Ruby took out her Scroll. Ozpin, with the help of Hunter, had located a safe cave in the forest relatively close to Beacon, but didn't have much student or Grimm traffic. Cerise would stay there until Ozpin had a place on campus cleared out for Cerise. Due to Hunter's hunting experience he gained before joining the PPDC, he knew exactly what kind of environment suited Cerise the best. He located a nearby stream that saw a decent amount of animal traffic, which meant food and water wouldn't be a problem. At Cerise' current size, the only predator in the area she had to worry about was Grimm, and they only attacked humans and Faunus… unless otherwise threatened.

Even though the area was safe, Ruby still worried for Cerise. This was her first time out of the dorm room, and it was in Grimm territory. There was also the distinct possibility that someone could find her and blow the whole secret, despite Ozpin's claims otherwise. It's not that she wanted to keep her dragon hidden, but she didn't know what kind of crowd a dragon could attract. For all she knew, dragon scales could be extremely valuable like some of those books said, and they could attract some less than friendly people.

Cerise started angling toward the cave and landed as Ruby entered the clearing before it. Hunter stood next to the mouth of the cave waving at both Ruby and her dragon.

"Nice entrance." Hunter said earning a happy hum from Cerise.

"Thank you for everything." Ruby said gratefully.

"Hey, what are friends for?" Hunter smiled. "At least I can pay you back for helping both me and Shade out a few months ago."

"How did you know what to look for?" Ruby asked gesturing to the cave and the area around it.

"My parents taught me how to track, fish and hunt wild game in both forests and swamps."

"What did you and your family hunt?" Ruby asked curiously.

"Deer, boars, ducks, turkeys… alligators." Hunter said listing off a few animals he has hunted.

"Alligators?!" Ruby asked surprised that he has hunted them before. "Why would you go out and hunt those things? Isn't their meat the worst tasting in the world?"

Hunter laughed. "If the ones on Remnant are like the ones on Earth then it's not the meat that tastes bad, it's the fat. You have to remove every bit of it or else it will ruin all of the meat when you cook it, but it's best to save the fat as well."

"Why is that?"

"Natural mosquito repellant. The bugs can't stand the stuff."

While the two were talking, Cerise had walked over to the cave and looked it over. Giving it a good sniff as well. She turned to look Ruby in the eyes. "I know it's not as comfortable as in the room, but I believe this is where dragons usually live," she wrapped her arms around Cerise' neck. "We both know you were outgrowing the room and you were eating absolutely everything. You just couldn't stay in there."

"Out here though, you don't have to worry about breaking anything. You can eat as much as you want, drink as much as you want, pretty much do anything you want." Ruby pulled back to look at her dragon in the eyes. They were filled with sadness, the first time that emotion was ever seen there. "This is only temporary. From the sound of it, you'll be back on campus before next semester. I won't be far away. If you need me you just have to ask. Just, please don't walk up to anybody that you don't already know. I don't want anything to happen to you."

Cerise' sadness rolled off her in waves, destroying Ruby's resolve. She broke and pulled her dragon close again. They stood together for several minutes before Ruby came to her senses. "That's not fair," she croaked as she pulled away. "Sending me your sadness, I don't know how to control it." The red dragon chuckled the walked alone into the cave. Ruby turned back to Beacon with Hunter and didn't look back; she knew she'd either spend the night in the cave or take her dragon back with her.

**[...]**

Aaron lay under Nalia's wing and stared up at the shattered moon. At least he could say with certainty they were not in Alasaësia. They were in a land called Remnant in the kingdom of Vale. In the many history books Aaron read, there were no mentions of magic, dragons, urgals, dwarves, or elves. This place did however contain Faunus, an almost human-like race of people with a single animalistic feature, and the creatures of Grimm. Both had been at war with humans at some point in history, but the war with the Grimm still lived.

The Rider sighed. Humans always seemed to make another race mad. "What do you think of all of this?" he asked Nalia.

She huffed a plume of smoke into the air. _Not much different from the last time you asked. I don't know who we can trust and I have no idea who down there would take the egg._

Aaron thought back to the 'newspaper' he read back in the city. "It could be this 'White Fang' criminal group."

_No, they're too focused on whatever this Dust is. They wouldn't worry about something that looks like a shiny rock._

"Rubies are just shiny rocks, though the egg is way bigger than a regular ruby." Aaron felt his dragon's opinion change instantly. Nalia rumbled behind him "Now you want me to go investigate them?" he asked, though he already knew the answer.

_Yes. Even if they don't have the egg, they're still criminals. Take what you can from them and use it for our advantage._

Aaron released a humorless chuckle. "Should I leave anything for the locals to use against them?"

_If it doesn't endanger us, yes. We should at least be friendly if we're staying here._

"Even if they would shoot us out of the sky?"

_If we give them a reason not to, they won't._

"You have more faith in these people than I do." Aaron sighed. "Alright, I'll start looking into them in the morning. Until then, let's get some sleep. No reason to stay up any longer."

_At least you've gotten sleep._ Nalia rumbled sadly as she settled down for the night. _I haven't been able to since the egg disappeared._

"Don't give up hope. It could very well be in good hands."

**[...]**

_**Another week later…**_

"It feels so good to be done!" Ruby yelled while walking and punching her fists into the air.

"Yeah, one down, seven more to go!" Yang cheered.

"And the moment's gone." Ruby let her arms fall. She felt Cerise' amusement from three miles away. In only a couple of weeks, the pair was able to feel each other's minds over an incredible distance. They hadn't been out of the other's head for three days. Though Ruby welcomed the company, it did get awkward at times.

Team RWBY walked down the road to the city to celebrate the semester's end. The only thing they really had planned was to go get something to eat. Weiss insisted that it was her treat, and no one argued. After lunch, though, they just wanted to walk around the city and do whatever peaked their interest.

The walk to the city was nothing special, except for the fact that there were more students on the road. Everyone had their own end of the semester plans and most of them involved something in the city. It would mean the streets would be packed, but people tended to be more relaxed after exams than before.

"When we're done in the city, you guys want to take a hike in the forest?" Ruby asked, knowing her friends would get her meaning.

"Might as well," Weiss said, trying and failing to hide a smile.

"We haven't gone out there in a while. I think it would be refreshing, Blake replied.

"You know my answer sis," Yang slapped Ruby's shoulder. "I'm always up for a jaunt out there."

Ruby felt Cerise' happiness roll off her. She hadn't seen the rest of the team since she left for the cave. Though Team SPHR did visit one time to make sure she was doing okay. It was so infectious Ruby's already wide grin grew even more. "Sounds like a plan! I already have-"

A building a few blocks away interrupted Ruby by exploding. Smoke quickly rose into the air. No debris seemed to be heading toward team RWBY, but they dove for cover just in case. The four teammates locked eyes with each other, reading their expressions. They nodded in unison and ran to the remains of the building. Though they wouldn't be able to do much against any fire the explosion caused, they would be able to get people out if there were any.

The four reached the building as several people were stumbling out. People already lined the street across from the building. No police or firemen were in the crowd though. Weiss ran up to someone who came out of the building. "Is there anyone still in there?" she calmly asked.

The man shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. I just got out of there as quick as I could."

Ruby looked at the burning building. She couldn't decide if it was worth the risk running in there if there were no people inside. Blake walked over to her and whispered in her ear, "You can do some weird things with your mind now. Do you think you can tell if anyone's in the building?"

"But that's only with Cerise. Who says that it will work here?"

"You did something with us last week. You could do it again."

Ruby shivered at the thought. She still felt overwhelmed from when she accidently broadcast her emotions into her teammate's heads. Still, it was the fastest way to tell if someone was inside. Ruby concentrated her thoughts and extended her mind out like she did with Cerise. She felt the people around her first, then the area she could feel expanded. There were so many people around her, almost all of them were either scared or held a morbid fascination in the fire. The only three in the crowd that were determined more than anything came with Ruby from Beacon. All the feelings almost overwhelmed her, but she pressed forward to the building.

Eventually her mind's radius met the building. At first Ruby felt nothing inside. She was about to pull back when she felt three people in the building. One of them seemed to notice her, recoiled, and did something with his mind that made it impossible to read him. Ruby's sixth sense noticed something off about the guy. He had a small amount of yoki covering his body, but his body was not producing any bit. Ruby realized that he must have recently fought a Yoma and won. Ruby pulled back into herself and gasped. She didn't realize she was off balance until Blake grabbed her shoulders. "There are three people still inside," she managed to say. "They're on their way out already."

Sure enough, two people stumbled out of the building, the guy had a little girl over his shoulder. They made their way across the street to the crowd who started clapping for them. The guy set the girl down and looked her in the eyes and said something to her. Ruby belatedly realized that the guy was the one who ran her over a few weeks ago. He stood up and started walking away from the explosion site, and his route carried him right past Ruby.

She couldn't believe it. This guy saved two lives and had recently defeated a Yoma. now he was just walking away like it was nothing. She couldn't contain herself anymore. "You are so cool!"

**[...]**

Aaron was on edge after the events of the day so far. After being attacked by a woman that turned into that golden eyed monster that wanted nothing more than to 'consume his guts', as she put it, and then recently having the building he was in explode, it wasn't a surprise that he suddenly jumped when he was being praised by none other than the same girl he knocked over on his first day in town. The girl was beaming up at him. Her black haired friend though looked more embarrassed than anything. "Umm, excuse me?"

"You just carried a girl out of a burning building like you do it every day!" The girl in red was practically jumping up and down with excitement while the black haired girl frantically gestured to two other people in the crowd.

_Nalia,_ Aaron called out, _a little help please?_

_I think not, _she mentally chuckled. _I want to see how this plays out._

_Thank you for nothing, you useless reptile. _Aaron returned his attentioned to the excited girl in front of him while trying to think of a convincing lie. "Well, I grew up around smoke and fire. I've learned the way the smoke spreads to find where the fire is. When I heard voices inside after the explosion, I couldn't just sit out here and do nothing."

Aaron immediately regretted his choice of words. "Wow! You grew up doing that? How many times have you done it?" The red girl's eyes sparkled with curiosity and awe. They practically radiated off of her. It took Aaron a few seconds to realize it actually did. He immediately sealed his mind to the onslaught.

_Nalia, I think I've found our lone magician._ About a week earlier, Aaron felt a magician's mind running through the forest late at night. He immediately sealed his mind and hid in case he or she was hostile. Looking at the girl now proved she wasn't an enemy.

The red girl's three friends looked at her with concern. The blonde girl placed a hand on the red's shoulder. "Calm down Ruby, no need to get too excited." The girl now identified as Ruby looked at the yellow haired girl in shock, then visibly calmed down.

Sirens sounded over the commotion, signaling the arrival of emergency services. "I should probably get out of here before the cameras show up," Aaron said.

"And why do you need to do that?" the white haired girl asked. Aaron racked his brain to remember her name… Weiss.

"I don't need them to make a hero out of me. The last thing I need is public attention." Aaron took off down a side alley, out of sight of the police that pulled up to the scene. He looked back to see Ruby and her group walking after him. The Rider scowled. _How do I get rid of them?_

_Maybe you shouldn't, _Nalia broke in. _They could very well be friendly. You have said we need to make connections while here, and you haven't made any yet._

_They're young. From what I've seen here, that might not mean much, but they can't be very skilled._

Nalia mentally huffed. _We have already seen more than they are likely to in a lifetime, and I believe you are younger than three of them. I don't believe either of us look like we have that kind of experience._

Aaron sighed and waited for the girls to catch up. "I'm not going to get rid of you four, am I?" he asked as they reached him.

"Nah," the blonde girl said. "I get the feeling interesting things follow you wherever you go. I'm Yang by the way." She stuck out a hand.

After a second's hesitation, Aaron shook it. "I'm Aaron." The official introduction made the rounds, with Blake being the only one he still didn't know the name of. "Well now that's out of the way, we should get going. Someone in that crowd is going to talk and they'll be looking for me."

The group left the alley through the other side and blended into the foot traffic. The chance of being recognized decreased by the minute. Aaron forced himself to calm down. He still couldn't believe he fell into that trap the White Fang set up for him. Just as he thought he was onto something, the criminal organization obviously found him out and planned to kill him, and other humans in the process. Maybe he shouldn't have been investigating on location and instead searched with his mind. At least they couldn't detect that.

"So Aaron," Ruby broke the silence, "I was wondering were you attacked by a golden eyed person with sharp teeth earlier today?" The rest of the girls looked at both of them with surprised looks on their faces.

"Ruby! Why would you ask something like that?" Yang berated.

"Remember how long I tried to clean Crescent Rose after fighting Rosemary." Ruby deadpanned.

Aaron noticed the three girls visibly flinched at the mention of the name. "Yeah, you kept complaining how the Yoki from her blood wouldn't wash off." Weiss said.

"Well Aaron's clothes and his sword has Yoki radiating off of them, but his body isn't." Ruby explained.

"Actually, yes I was." Aaron said a bit surprised, though he was sure he had removed all the blood from his clothes and sword. "An hour ago, I was helping a woman who has sprained her ankle. Then she turned into a monster and attacked me while saying she was going to eat my guts."

"Must have been a Yoma." Weiss said a bit concerned.

_Now we have a name for those creatures. _Nalia mentally growled.

"Did you kill it?" Blake asked.

"Yes." Aaron replied.

"Those things are dangerous. One less on Remnant the better," Yang said.

"Anyway, we were on our way to go get something to eat. You want to join us?" Ruby asked earning an icy glare from Weiss, but Ruby either didn't notice or ignored it.

Aaron shrugged. "Might as well, my other plans for the day kind of fell apart with the media circus back there." He was still getting used to some of the phrases used in Vale. He hoped he didn't speak out of place.

"Yes!" Ruby said while pumping a fist. She was extremely energetic, even for someone as young as her. Aaron threw a questioning glance at Blake, hoping she knew what it meant. She just shrugged. Weiss' glare now rested on Aaron. He didn't need to be in her head to know that she wasn't paying for him. The Rider simply tapped a pocket where his wallet rested. It appeared some stares were the same whether here or in Alagaësia.

The group reached the restaurant shortly after. Aaron asked where each of the girls were from and they answered politely enough. Weiss still glared at him occasionally, for what Aaron couldn't even guess. Probably something in Aaron's word choice. When the waitress came to take their orders, Ruby quickly looked over her shoulder. A good portion of her normal good cheer disappeared.

As the conversation drew on, he found out that Ruby and Yang were sisters and they were all on the same team from Beacon Academy. Ruby led the team 'RWBY' and she was the youngest student at Beacon. Even though Aaron didn't know the customs of Remnant as well as he wanted to, he still knew that the accomplishment was no small feat. She was a team leader, a great fighter going off what her friend said, and was one of the only four people on Remnant who could sense the Grimm, Yoma and their stronger and nastier counterpart Awakened Beings. Just mentioning those two words together made the girls shudder in slight fear. Aaron tried to ask about them, but four refused to answer, only saying 'ask either Professor Silver or her daughter Elena. They will tell you.'

Trying to get back on subject, Ruby told Aaron that she was the only person in Vale able to expand her mind. That made Aaron pause. Of the many thousands of people in the city, She was the only one able to spread her mind outside of her own head. She also wore gloves while at the table, like him. Aaron previously observed people with gloves taking them off while eating, presumably not to get them dirty. Ruby did not seem like the kind of person to wear gloves in public though. Weiss fit that position better than anyone at the table and her hands were bare from the beginning. _Could she be…?_

"So Aaron, where are you from?" Blake interrupted Aaron's thoughts.

"I'm from Vacuo," Aaron began reciting the lie he and Nalia came up with to help fit in. "I'm in town to visit some family, and to help in a house search here. The place that blew up was one of the ideas."

The girls looked at him in shock. "You weren't in there when it happened were you?" Ruby asked.

"I was just down the street trying to clean myself up after fighting that Yoma," Aaron said. Only part of what he said was a lie. He had killed the Yoma a good forty minutes earlier before going into the building and accidentally triggering the bomb. He had barely shielded himself from the explosion in time. "Well, at least I can check one place off the list."

"You're taking this awfully well." Weiss narrowed her eyes. "And why would _you_ be searching for a home by yourself without your parents?"

Aaron chuckled without humor, and it probably sounded forced. He didn't expect that last question. "When you live the life I've had, you learn to make the best of a bad situation. To answer your second question, my parents thought it would be a better idea to split up and cover more ground." Just then the food arrived and everyone's mood improved, especially Aaron's. Even though he illegitimately acquired a large sum of Lien, he mainly stuck to eating with Nalia back in their cave. He hadn't had an actual cooked meal of decent quality in over a year.

Ruby's normal good mood came back for a second, then she whipped her head around again. The table turned quiet, even taking into account they were all eating. Yang discretely took a look at her sister. Ruby slightly shook her head. Aaron recognized the look on her face, he wore it for most of the past three years. She felt she was being hunted. Aaron tried his best not to act like he saw the difference in the team leader, but after a third violent time of looking over her shoulder, he spoke up. "Ruby," she snapped around to face Aaron, trying to mask the anxiety on her face, "Is everything alright?"

She threw on a fake Smile and tried to shrug off the question. "Everything's fine. It's just-" Ruby's face contorted in agony and gripped her left arm tightly. Everyone else at the table jumped out of their chairs and Yang ran to her sister's side. Ruby opened her eyes, and Aaron saw pure panic in them. "Cerise," She mumbled. Then she bolted for the door. Once outside, she vanished in a red blur, leaving rose petals in her wake.

The rest of team RWBY looked at each other, as if debating what to do. "We have to go after her," Yang announced. Weiss dropped a bunch of Lien cards on the table then followed the other two out.

Aaron stood by the table trying to figure out what just happened. Ruby grabbed her arm as if it was cut, but there wasn't a drop of blood by the table or on the way to the door. She kept looking over her shoulder, like she was afraid of something, then she sped off in that direction. The panic in her eyes was genuine, but it wasn't for herself. Add to that the observations he made earlier. Lastly, the word, no, _name_ she said. "Cerise," Aaron whispered to himself.

It finally dawned on Aaron. He finally realized what was so special about Ruby the day they met. _Nalia,_ he called. _I don't think we have to look for the egg anymore._

**[...]**

**A/N: I seriously need to set some time off to the side just for me to write with no interruptions. Anyway, things are starting to happen and soon the characters from all three stories will finally truly meet each other. I'm looking forward to writing that.**

**Also I hope everyone has a good singles awareness day. I know I did cause the wonderful Manu-chann created another artwork for this story. I posted it on my Deviantart page. Those of you who want to see Elena's new Huntress outfit go take a look at it, plus its a new canon ship for this story.**

**Side note, Yes I have seen the entire volume 7 season and no I will not say anything to those of you who only stick to youtube. The only thing to say is that with volume 7 of RWBY over, it's time to look forward to some upcoming animes coming out this year like the long awaited season 3 of Log Horizon and the Pacific Rim anime just to name a few.**

**For you survival gamer fans, Ark Genesis part one gets released on the 25th and I'm quite excited for it.**

**B/N: Ah, Singles Awareness day… or Single's Appreciation, whichever you prefer. Just an excuse to get chocolate for yourself. Now to prepare for my birthday tomorrow… -Pokeman1280**


	18. Riders and Claymores

**A/N: So I recently started watching Bofuri and I have to admit, It's a cute gamer anime. All hail Maple! The walking fortress! Anyway let's get onto the story, things are starting to get interesting.**

**Also important notice the Ancient Language from the Inheritance Cycle storyline will be used from here on in. This will be shown through italics and quotation marks. Example: **

"_**Give that dragon a cookie!" **_**I will write in the ancient language when a full phrase is available. I will not make up words as it would only confuse everyone, myself included.**

**[...]**

Ruby ran through the forest toward her dragon. Back at the restaurant, she felt Cerise' worry, turned fear, turned panic. Shortly after that, a lance of pure pain raced up Ruby's arm, but it wasn't her own. Cerise was injured and projected her pain to Ruby, though seemingly unintentionally. Panic overtook Ruby and she rushed to defend her dragon.

Even though Ruby ran faster than ever before, it still took her far too long to reach her dragon. She tracked her dragon with her mind and as she neared Cerise, her sixth sense detected multiple sources of Yoki. Ruby burst into a clearing next to a cliff-side not too far from Cerise' cave. Cerise clawed her way up the Cliff and stared down at a large pack of Beowolves. Even though the dragon had grown incredibly in the past two weeks, even the smallest Grimm out massed Cerise. Ruby finally saw the damage the creatures caused. Four long and deep slashes ran the length of her front leg. Similar scars lay on her shoulders and wings, though those didn't seem as bad. Cerise finally noticed Ruby and looked in her direction. The dragon whimpered at the one she knew her whole life.

Something snapped in Ruby. A rage she didn't know existed boiled to the top. In that moment, her sixth sense went into overdrive and she began to see the Yoki flow throughout the Grimm's bodies. Ruby whipped out Crescent Rose and lunged at the Beowolves. Her weapon sliced off the heads of two Grimm with one swing and eviscerated another three before the rest of the pack even noticed her. The mob slowly encircled Ruby and ignored the injured dragon perched a dozen feet up the cliff.

Ruby just snarled at the dark wolves that surrounded her. They hurt her dragon, and they were going to pay for it. The wolves figured strength in numbers would enable them to bring down the huntress in training. Eight of the creatures rushed Ruby at the same time. She pointed Crescent Rose at the ground and fired herself upward. While in the air, she shot the eight Grimm that rushed her, and continued firing at the pack below her. When she ran out of bullets in her weapon, she dropped on top of the pack's Alpha, impaling it at the same time.

The remaining Beowolves stared at Ruby, and she glared back with an intensity only matched by Yang when someone cuts her hair. "Who's next?" Ruby growled. The remnants of the pack charged Ruby all at once. She fired Crescent Rose behind her and launched herself at the horde, cutting through the first ranks like butter. Ruby twirled her weapon around her and dismembered and decapitated several Grimm. At such close range, even a careless backswing would kill or at least injure a Grimm. One of the creatures managed to swipe at Ruby, but she quickly cut off its hand then removed its head.

Eventually the pack of Beowolves all lay dead or dying at Ruby's feet. Still, she searched the surrounding area with her sixth sense for any more. A soft growl came from her left. She looked at the source and saw a Beowolf trying to claw its way across the ground to attack Ruby. She walked up to the dying creature with Crescent Rose at the ready. Ruby stopped just out of the Grimm's reach and raised her weapon over her head. "Don't. Touch. My. Dragon." She drove the tip of her scythe into the creature's head.

With all the Grimm dead, Ruby started to calm herself down. She heard another whimper from the cliff. All the anger drained from Ruby and she looked up at her dragon. Cerise was making her way down the cliff with only three sets of claws, keeping her injured leg close to her body. About halfway down she lost grip and fell the remaining six feet landing flat on her back, driving her back spikes into the ground.

Ruby quickly folded up Crescent Rose and ran to her dragon's side. She helped Cerise flip back to her feet, leaving massive gouges in the ground. Luckily, the spikes didn't look damaged. Ruby ran to Cerise' injured leg and looked closer at the injury. The slashes dug all the way to the bone. Blood poured out in buckets, soaking the ground beneath them. Ruby knew it was bad, but she didn't know if it was enough to make Cerise bleed out. She tore off her cloak and wrapped it around the injury as tight as she could. Still, it wasn't enough. The red dragon's blood oozed out of the hood.

Cerise whimpered again and looked Ruby in the eyes. This was bad. Very bad. "We have to get you to a doctor," Ruby mumbled. She positioned herself just behind Cerise' injured leg. The pair walked like that for a few minutes, luckily with no more Grimm waiting in ambush. The dragon's bulk wore ruby down quickly but she pressed forward. She didn't care about what injuries she obtained from the work. Her dragon came first.

Cerise collapsed under her own weight, nearly taking Ruby with her. The young huntress in training tried to help her dragon back to her feet, but it was no use. Cerise just whimpered weakly. Her eyes started to glaze over. Apparently the injury _was_ that bad. Ruby whipped out her scroll to contact the emergency services of Beacon, cursing herself for not thinking of it earlier. At that point, they were the only ones that could save Cerise. Unfortunately, it was split in half, most likely the one hit at Beowolf managed to land.

Ruby looked Cerise in the eyes. Her dragon was dying, and there was nothing she could do about it. She threw her arms around Cerise' neck and started crying. "It's all my fault," she whispered. "I should have kept you closer to the city. I should have been here sooner. I should have kept you in the room until wherever Ozpin would put you was ready. I'm sorry, I'm sorry…" She kept up like this for several minutes. Her own energy drained off her rapidly.

"Ruby!" a voice filtered through the trees. "Ruby where are you?"

Ruby's spirits lifted slightly. "Yang! I'm over here!" she called at the top of her lungs. If the rest of the team was with Yang, maybe, just maybe, they could carry Cerise to Beacon where she could hopefully be treated. Sure enough, three sets of footsteps stomped through the trees. The rest of team RWBY froze when they saw the state of their teammate and her dragon.

"Ruby, what…" Weiss began to say.

"We have to get her to Beacon!" Ruby interrupted. "They're the only ones that can help her!"

"Have you called for help?" Weiss asked with slight hesitation in her voice.

"Can't. My scroll's busted."

Weiss immediately took out her own scroll and dialed a number. "Ozpin knows, right?" Ruby nodded frantically. After a few seconds Weiss got an answer. "Cerise is injured. We can't move her from here on our own. We need a Bullhead or something to get her out of here." She paused and put on a very confused face. "Okay, thanks." She ended the call and looked at Ruby. "He said he's already aware of the situation. Professor Silver and Elena are already on their way to provide first aid till a secondary team can arrive."

"Really? How?" Ruby didn't stop to tell anyone about what happened. How'd Ozpin know?

"Ruby," Blake called while looking up at a tree. "There are cameras out here." Ruby looked up at the tree Blake was looking at and saw the camera almost hidden behind some branches. It made sense to have them out in the forest with the initiations held out here. Also, if any Grimm came too close to Beacon they would be spotted. But… Beacon was way closer. Did Ozpin know about this before it happened?

Ruby shook her head. No time to blame. If help didn't come fast, Cerise would bleed out.

Cerise whimpered again and Ruby rubbed her scaly head. "Don't worry, help will be here soon."

"Sooner than you think, Ruby," Another voice said from the trees. Ruby snapped her head to the direction of the voice while the rest of her team formed a line in front of her and Cerise. The person the voice belonged to stepped out of the shadows and into the midday light. Ruby gasped. Aaron stood in front of the group and was staring at Cerise.

**[...]**

Aaron stood at the edge of the clearing the girls set up in. Yang, Blake, and Weiss rested in defensive stances, while Ruby had her arms wrapped around her dragon's neck. Cerise-or at least Aaron thought that was the dragon's name-looked up at him in terror. If the older Rider was right, he was only the fifth human the dragon had ever seen, and Ruby would have preferred to keep it that way.

"Why did you follow us?" Weiss growled.

Aaron looked over at Weiss with the most neutral face he could manage. "Ruby was obviously terrified of something," he said. "I had my suspicions, I just wish I was wrong." He turned to look Ruby in the eyes. "I can help her."

Something changed in Ruby's eyes. She wanted to trust Aaron but wasn't sure if it was the best idea. She tightened her hold on Cerise' neck at the same time. Blake spoke what was on everyone's mind, "How do we know we can trust you?"

Aaron mentally switched to the ancient language while keeping eye contact with Ruby. "_I can help your dragon. I shall not harm her in any way."_

The fear in Cerise' eyes vanished immediately. Ruby cocked her head to the side and narrowed her eyes, like she had heard those words before, but couldn't remember them exactly. The other girls only got angrier. Yang's bracelets extended into full gauntlets. "Speak Vytalian!" she demanded.

Cerise looked up at Ruby with pleading eyes. What happened next made Aaron wish he wasn't paying as close of attention to the dragon's condition. _Ruby,_ Cerise thought to her Rider.

Ruby visibly recoiled from hearing her dragon's voice for most likely the first time. Aaron kept his reaction to himself. _I should not have heard that._ He thought to himself.

Nalia sent her disappointment over their mental link. _Under normal conditions I would throw you off a cliff for listening in on another's first words, but these aren't normal conditions._

Ruby flinched again, likely Cerise just said something else, but Aaron already retreated from the small dragon's mind. The young huntress looked over the older Rider like she was making sure he wasn't a threat. She eventually locked eyes with Aaron. "Do what you can," She whispered.

Her teammates looked at their leader in surprise. "Ruby, are you sure?" Yang asked.

"I think Cerise trusts him… somehow. That's enough for me." Ruby focused her eyes on Aaron. "Please, help her."

Aaron simply nodded and approached the dragon. Weiss grabbed his arm as he passed. "Leave your sword with me." The Rider barely glanced at the white haired girl as he unhooked his scabbard from his belt and handed it to Weiss, sword still inside.

Aaron crossed the rest of the distance unhindered and Ruby stepped back to give him room. He knelt by the injured leg and turned to look the young dragon in the eye. "This will itch a lot, but don't attempt to scratch it," he soothed. Though he couldn't see Ruby, he felt her gaze boring into his back. There was no doubt in the Rider's mind that she would attack him if he so much as touched a scale the wrong way.

_Nalia, lend me your strength, _Aaron called out.

_What's mine is yours,_ Nalia immediately sent her energy to her Rider.

Aaron raised a hand and went to work. First he purposely made his hand glow so the girls would know he was actually doing something. They all gasped as they realized Aaron was no ordinary doctor. The Rider turned healer used a spell to identify the damage behind the hood. It was extensive, but he reattached severed limbs before. Compared to that, this was a cakewalk. Then again, Oromis coached him all the way through while standing over his shoulder.

Simple or not, it still took time to heal, and that was time Cerise might not have. Aaron worked quickly, Rebuilding bone and stitching up muscles. Somehow the slashes missed all major blood vessels in the dragon's leg, which was probably the only reason she was still alive. For her part, Cerise lay nearly completely still, keeping her leg immobile while only twitching with her neck and head.

As the last cut in her leg formed back together, Cerise relaxed. Aaron immediately changed his focus from the leg to the wings. While not life threatening, if not tended to, the injuries could have a permanent impact on her flight skills. Those wounds closed up easily as they were less than an inch deep. Last he healed the superficial scratched on the rest of the dragon's body.

Aaron sighed as he finished his work. It was faster that expected, but the speed took a toll on his and Nalia's energy. They could still fight if needed, but only if it lasted only a few minutes. Prolonged engagements could be a problem.

As he was about to remove Ruby's cloak from the previously injured leg, he hesitated. Most people in Vale had their signature look, and that hood seemed to be Ruby's. Aaron used some of his remaining energy to remove all of Cerise' blood from it. Then he unwrapped the make-shift tourniquet and inspected his work with his own eyes. The only indications of a wound were a few missing scales.

"All done," Aaron announced as he stood up. Ruby pushed him aside violently, then knelt by the former worst injury. She ran a finger down the line of missing scales and pulled it back only to find no blood on her hands. She looked up at Aaron in wonder. He just smiled and extended an arm that held Ruby's hood. "I believe this is yours?"

Ruby snatched her cloak from Aaron and felt all over. Again, there was not a drop of blood. She hesitantly put it on then turned to look her dragon in the eye. "How are you feeling, Cerise?" she asked. Cerise just hummed happily, though weakly.

"She'll need plenty of rest, food, and water," Aaron chipped in. "She'll be fully recovered in a few days."

Ruby looked up at Aaron with an odd expression. She knelt like that for a few seconds, then launched herself at the older Rider. She wrapped her arms around his neck and squeezed tightly. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" she repeated over and over.

Aaron expected the response, but not to this magnitude. Hesitantly he returned the hug as he figured out what to say. "I was just doing my duty. I'm sure you'd do the same thing if you could."

Ruby let go and beamed up at Aaron. "How did you learn to do that?" she asked. How were you _able_ to do that?"

Aaron smiled, he was waiting for that question. He removed the glove he wore on his right hand and held it palm up so his gedwëy ignasia lay in full view. "I'm a Dragon Rider, like you." Ruby stared at the silver mark on his hand in shock. She removed the bloody glove on her left hand and looked at the similarity between their marks. They were practically identical.

"I hate to break this up, but we're about to have company," Yang announced, breaking the moment between the two Riders. Aaron snapped back to reality and stared out into the forest. A roar rolled over the trees, and not one from Nalia.

"Deathstalker," Weiss said as she readied her rapier. Almost as an afterthought, she threw Aaron his sword and scabbard. He caught the combo and reattached the sheath to his belt.

_Nalia, Care to make an entrance?_ Aaron asked his dragon.

Her glee flowed over their connection like water. _I'm chasing this 'Deathstalker' right now. At least I have something to call these._ Soon the footfalls of the giant scorpion were felt through the ground. The girls of team RWBY formed up around Cerise as she couldn't fight. Aaron drew his sword, but only for show. Nalia killed several Deathstalkers in their short time in the Emerald Forest, though unfortunately they weren't edible.

Another roar assaulted the group's ears, and not one from a Grimm. Aaron smiled as the girls tensed up at the unfamiliar sound. "That wasn't a Grimm," Blake mumbled.

"Oh really? I thought it was a Beowolf cub," Yang joked.

"Please, don't let it be an Awakened," Weiss muttered.

Aaron chuckled, which drew strange looks from the rest of the group. "Blake was right," he said. "That wasn't a Grimm" The clearing darkened and everyone looked up in varying levels of amazement. "That's my dragon."

Nalia carried a Deathstalker without its tail in her claws. She back flipped and dove straight for the ground. The dragon picked up a considerable amount of speed before throwing the scorpion to the ground. It hit the dirt with the force of a stalactite from Farthen Dȗr crashing to the ground. Nalia landed with much less force, but still enough to crush the remains of the black creature. For good measure, she tore off its head with her powerful claws.

Team RWBY froze in place, weapons aimed at Nalia. None of them moved except to look at each other. Nalia cocked her head and looked at the four huntresses in training. _Come on, I don't bite. Well, I won't anyway._

Yang, Blake, and Weiss looked at Nalia in surprise and lowered their weapons. Ruby, on the other hand, perked up. "You can talk too?"

Her teammates looked at their leader with even more surprise. "Too?" Weiss asked.

Ruby scratched her head. "Cerise said my name twice right before Aaron healed her. That's how I knew I could trust him."

Yang threw her arms up in defeat. "Okay, would someone please tell me what's going on?" she yelled.

Nalia chuckled. _That is a long story, yellow one-_

"-but now isn't the time or place for that," Aaron finished. "I don't want to be cut off by the healers that you ca-"

"AARON! LOOK OUT!" Ruby suddenly yelled as two Creeps jumped out the forest brush, targeting the Rider.

Before anyone could do anything, two silver blurs launched out of the treeline and decapitated both Grimm before landing, kicking a ton of dust into the air.

"Sorry we're late." a voice said, though it sounded out of breath. The dust started to clear, revealing two blonde haired women with silver eyes. Both women wore similar armored outfits, though there were many differences between the two. The older one wore what looked like a white tunic and matching trousers. Armor plated gauntlets, shoes, and what looked like a plateskirt continued the outfit, along with two steel pauldrons on her shoulders. A strange looking metal scabbard rested on her back that looked like it was attached to the woman's shirt. She also wore a black collar with a crimson emblem on her neck. In all honesty Aaron was surprised, her clothes looked more like something you could find back in Alasgaësia.

The younger looking woman wore a similar outfit but it felt more fitting for Remnant than Alagaësia. She wore a light white dress with an ornate pattern on the short sleeves, grounded by a silver-plated battle skirt. A pair of black trousers with armored plating on the lower legs with a pair of armored shoes protected her legs. On her arms were a pair of white gloves that extended to her elbows. A pair of pauldrons rested on her shoulders connected by a piece of metal that extended across her chest and back. The same piece of metal on her back looked like it was designed to carry her large claymore that strangely matched the older woman's sword with only one or two slight variations. She wore a similar black collar around her neck with her own crimson emblem on it completed the outfit. Both women carried a pair of matching backpacks that most likely carried what _was _needed to heal Cerise.

"Teresa! Elena!" Ruby shouted in surprise.

"What is Cerise' current condition?" the older woman, Teresa if Aaron was to guess, asked.

"Stable," Weiss calmly said. "Thanks to Aaron here."

"Thank the twin goddesses she's alright," Elena sighed as she walked over to Cerise. "I was afraid we weren't going to get here in time."

Teresa turned to look at the Rider and his dragon. Her silver eyes looked him over as if she was assessing if he was a threat. After a minute she sheathed her claymore and walked up to Aaron and Nalia.

"Thank you for helping little Cerise. My name is Professor Teresa Silver," Teresa said introducing herself. "And this is my daughter Elena Silver."

"Hello," Elena waved.

"I am Aaron Benson and this is Nalia." Aaron politely introduced himself and his dragon as he sheathed his sword.

The large forest green dragon happily hummed at the two silver eyed warriors. _Thank you for protecting my Rider. Teresa, Elena, it is a pleasure to meet both of you, _she said. Both Teresa and Elena's eyes widened in surprise as they heard Nalia's voice in their heads. Nalia turned her head towards the small red dragon. She locked eyes with Cerise. _And you as well, Cerise Longtail._

"Longtail?" Ruby asked incredulously. "Shouldn't _I _get a say in her last name?"

Aaron chuckled. "A dragon's 'last name,' as you called it, is given by physical attributes or abilities. To add a few others, there are Brightscales, Razorclaws," he nodded at his dragon, "and Nalia is a Quickwing."

"Quickwing?" Ruby turned to look at Nalia.

_I'm fast, and I had my first flight at only a few hours old. _Nalia shifted her attention to Ruby. _You're older than most new Riders, much stronger too._

Ruby blushed and turned away slightly. "Well, a few years at combat school will do that. Plus, I had a few great teachers as well." Ruby looked over to Teresa for a second, who gave a warm smile to the young silver eyed girl.

Nalia nodded and looked over at the three non-silver eyed girls in the clearing. _So you are Ruby's team?_

None of them spoke for a moment, still in a bit of shock from hearing a dragon mentally talk to them. Eventually Yang spoke up. "Yep, at least for the next three and a half years. Then we can get away from her."

Nalia reared back in surprise. She was about to mentally/verbally assault Yang when Ruby launched herself at her sister. "Get rid of me? Pfft! Good luck with that." That also surprised Nalia. She looked at Aaron for confirmation that their behavior was normal. He just shrugged. From the little time he knew these girls, he knew Ruby was energetic, just not how it manifests itself.

Something in the air caught Nalia's attention. She sniffed the air a few times and looked directly at Blake, Elena and Teresa. Both Blake and Elena stood their ground despite the intense stare, but their face's said that they were uncomfortable. Teresa on the other hand, due to years of experiencing this kind of thing, stood unfazed. Nalia cocked her head. _You three aren't human._

Blake froze in place, as did the rest of her team. Eventually she sighed and untied the bow on her head, revealing two cat ears. "How did you know?" she asked.

_Human's have a unique scent that only they can create. The three of you have a different scent. _Nalia quickly looked at the two silver eyed women. _The both of you have a unique scent that I am unfamiliar with. _She returned her gaze to Blake. _However, you smell similar to a werecat._ Nalia focused on the two cat ears with interest. _Are they natural?_

"I'm a Faunus, what do you expect?" Blake asked suddenly on the defensive.

Nalia hummed in understanding. _I can think of a few elves who would be jealous of you._

"Elves?" Weiss scoffed.

"Jealous?" Blake's face brightened up.

"What's a werecat?" Elena asked, a bit more curious on what kind of creature it was than the others.

Aaron laughed at the situation before him. "Elves and werecats are both races where we come from. From what I can tell, werecats are like your werewolves, but can change anytime and are mainly the size of house cats. The elves are graceful, good fighters, and frankly better looking than humans as a general rule. They aren't like ones who make toys and live in the North Pole."

The older Rider fixed his eyes on Blake. "The elves are so good looking because they can make themselves look however they want, typically what they think is the most beautiful. Many of them take the appearance of animals. Still, not many of them can make the extra body parts work because, well, there it a lot of stuff to reroute and reconnect for ears, tails and such to be functional, So, yeah, there would probably be some elves who would be jealous of all Faunus because they are born with appearances and abilities the elves can't replicate."

Blake blinked several times. "Oh. I… uh…"

Off to the side Yang snickered. "Sorry Ruby, looks like Aaron has a thing for the cat lady."

Aaron didn't think it was possible for Ruby to blanch with her pale skin, but she proved otherwise. "Yang!" she yelled while backhanding her sister. Blake just rolled her eyes while Weiss brought her hand up to her face.

"Am I missing something here?" Aaron asked while very confused.

Ruby clamped a hand over her sister's mouth before she could speak. "Nothing! Nothing. You missed nothing," she stammered.

Teresa hid a small smile behind her fingers while Elena tried to hold back a giggle.

Nalia shook her head. _And I thought two-legs back home were odd._

"We're not all like this," an exasperated Weiss said, gesturing to the sisters. Yang was trying to throw Ruby off her back.

Nalia stared at the sisters for a few moments before turning her attention to the silver eyed women. _What are you two?_

Elena stared up at Nalia for a moment before speaking. "We are called Claymores, a warrior race named after the swords we carry. We were created to hunt down and eliminate the creatures called Yoma and Awakened Beings," she explained.

_What do you mean by created?_ Nalia asked before Aaron had a chance.

"We used to be Humans," Teresa began to explain. "We had a family and everything until a Yoma arrived, killing and eating our families. Then a Claymore would arrive and kill the Yoma before it would eat us. Then their handlers, the men in black, would take us to a group called the Organization. There they would take the flesh and blood of a Yoma and crudely and painfully implant it into our bodies. Creating us Claymores. The process causes our hair to lose its color and our eyes to turn silver, but at the same time we would be constantly in pain. If we survive the process, we are given training and then sent out with our own handler."

Aaron's face hardened. _Why would this Organization do such a thing? _He mentally asked Nalia.

_I don't know, but I feel like the more we hear about this 'Organization', the more the old order would have shut them down._ Nalia responded.

Before either Teresa or Elena could explain more, a sound unfamiliar to Aaron rolled over the forest, coming from the direction of the city. He turned to Nalia to see if she could see what made it. She craned her neck above the trees. _It's the healers,_ she said. _It took them long enough._

Aaron searched the ground for Cerise and found her watching the struggle between the sisters while lying next to Nalia. She appeared to be doing well, at least her eyes were open and alert. Still, the young dragon was recovering from massive blood loss, and no one can just walk it off. Ruby trusted the healers enough for them to come work on Cerise, but Aaron still wasn't sure.

The flying metal machine flew over the clearing and landed. Those inside didn't immediately jump out, which tipped Aaron off that something was wrong. If they were there for Cerise, why didn't run to the small dragon's side?

Only one man left the transport and walked to meet Ruby and Teresa. They met the man halfway. "Thanks for coming out and everything, but the situation's handled," Ruby said.

"We are aware of the situation, Miss Rose," the man said. "Our new orders are to escort you, Professor Silver and him to Beacon. Professor Ozpin wishes to speak with the three of you." He gestured over at Aaron.

The older Rider frowned. "What about our dragons?"

"He requests that they stay here for now until your meeting is over."

Ruby seemed taken aback. Aaron couldn't blame her. Her dragon was recovering from a mortal injury, and she was being asked to leave her. She looked back at Cerise with sad eyes. "But, she needs me," Ruby stuttered.

"We'll stay here until you get back Ruby," Weiss spoke up. "Nothing will get through us, especially with Elena here." Ruby stared at her teammate for a few seconds, like she was thinking it over. Eventually she nodded.

Aaron looked up at Nalia. "Find her some food."

The dragon looked at her Rider. _Be careful, especially around Teresa. I can sense she is hiding an extremely dangerous power within her body,_ she said before leaping into the air. Nalia flew off towards the mountain she called home for the last two weeks and the abundant wildlife that lived there.

Aaron turned to Ruby and gestured to the transport. "Ladies first."

**[...]**

**A/N: Aaron and Nalia have officially met team RWBY and both Teresa and Elena. Hopefully they will meet team SPHR next chapter as well.**

**Side note, I have officially commissioned another artwork from Manu-chann for a group artwork featuring Jad, Aaron, Dahlia, Elena (in her new huntress outfit) and Nalia. I have seen the line artwork and I have to say Manu keeps out doing herself every time. The artwork should be done in the next few weeks. (Edit, the artwork is out now on my deviantart page. Go take a look at it! It's amazing!)**

**Also, I pray that every single one of you are being well through this global epidemic. Yes I am living in one of the states being hit the hardest by this and I'm staying inside as much as I can due to my low immune system.**

**B/N: Activities during self quarantine include but are not limited to; reading a book, socializing with family, watching your favorite streaming services, board games, DnD (just started my first game ever), cleaning, doing taxes, and playing video games. It does NOT include hoarding toilet paper or other health and cleaning supplies Stay safe out there people, and stay smart. -Pokeman1280**

**A/N: speaking about toilet paper only one nine roll package should get you and four family members through NOT like ten packages for a single person. Please be smart people.**


	19. A Home Among Friends

**A/N: Well guys, two things happened recently.**

**First the artwork I commissioned of the Jaeger, Diamond Banshee, was finally completed. FIVE Months after I commissioned the artwork. I doubt I'm gonna ever hire that artist again. You can see Diamond Banshee on my Deviantart page.**

**Second, I'm back to grinding away a new skill on Runescape again. I wonder how long it's going to take me to get a certain cape back. Oh well. At least the skill is afkable to get some writing done.**

**Anyway here's the new chapter. Enjoy!**

**[...]**

The transport flew over the Emerald Forest at a pace that rivaled that of many Quickwings on Vroengard. Aaron stood by the door watching the trees roll by beneath them. Ruby stood on the other side staring at her feet. The older Rider looked at the younger with concern. Her emotions had been all over the place since he found Everyone in the clearing. Now, she was equally likely to explode in rage as well as to collapse on the floor in depression. Still, as much as Aaron was concerned for Ruby, he was also glad she was at least beginning to realize what her dragon means to her.

Next to Ruby stood Teresa. Even though she had her eyes closed, it still felt like she was watching everyone around her. Taking Nalia's advice, Aaron was wary around the Claymore. Whatever Nalia had sensed was surely powerful, though it made Aaron wonder what it was.

They arrived at Beacon Academy faster than Aaron expected. Only five minutes after they left the clearing, the transport was settling down in front of the school. If Cerise was so close, why did it take the healers so long to get there? Also, if they were healers, where was the necessary equipment they were supposed to bring? Aaron knew he didn't know what most medical equipment of Remnant did, or even looked like, but surely they would have things to wrap wounds and dress them on the spot. He only saw something like that from what Teresa and Elena had brought with them. There wasn't anything inside the transport that looked like that. Aaron concluded that his, Ruby, and Teresa's transport never was intended to treat Cerise.

_Something is definitely wrong here._ Aaron thought as he stepped out of the transport. Ruby jumped out and immediately started walking with a purpose toward the center of Beacon. Her mood was made up now, she was furious. She stormed her way across the campus grounds, with Teresa following moderately behind her and Aaron keeping his distance. About halfway to the tower at the center of the school, a group of four casually moved to intercept Ruby. "Hey Ruby, you're back," one of them said, "I thought we planned to-"

"Not now Jaune," Ruby growled. The other group just stared.

Aaron tried to walk past unnoticed, but at least one of the four saw him. "Who is that guy?" the one called Jaune asked his group as the Rider walked by.

"And why is Ruby acting so grumpy?" a female voice chipped in.

"I can't help but feel the two are related," the other woman said.

"Professor Silver might know what is going on," the last guy in the group said.

Aaron quickened his pace to catch up with Ruby. Several people around the courtyard watched the three with interest, probably the combination of Ruby's less than normal attitude and a new guy, with both of them being escorted by one of the teachers. As much as Aaron wanted to keep a low profile, that wasn't exactly possible anymore. He lost an egg that was found by a local and the hatchling was severely injured. Ruby and Cerise needed protection, and as much as he was able, instruction. Also, the people on the transport had seen two dragons in a land where there were none. They might be professional enough to not say anything, but Aaron didn't want to take that chance. Better to 'go public' on his own terms.

As the three of them entered the tower, Ruby walked up to a pair of silver doors. She pushed a button by the side of them then crossed her arms, still facing the doors. Aaron raised an eyebrow at the sight. Why was she just standing there? Where were the handles on the doors? Soon a ding chimed and doors opened on their own accord. Both Ruby and Teresa walked into the small room on the other side. They both turned around and Ruby gave Aaron a strange look.

"What, you've never seen an elevator before?" she asked with only a slight hint of her normal tone sneaking in.

Aaron walked into the 'elevator' and the doors closed behind him. Immediately after, he felt himself moving upward at a surprising pace. "You have some strange magic here," he said. Ruby looked up at Aaron in confusion, then shook her head. Her anger was rising with the elevator. Soon it would spill over if she couldn't control it. Aaron remembered a time where his rage boiled over in a populated area. The result wasn't fun to deal with.

There was another ding and the doors opened to reveal an office space with many metal cogs rotating around each other. If they served a purpose other than decoration, Aaron could only guess. Two people were already in the room. One of them was a middle-aged man wearing mostly green clothes, glasses, and holding a cane. Professor Ozpin, Aaron guessed. The other person was a woman in a purple cape, a puffy white shirt, and a black skirt. Both looked up at the new arrivals.

Both Aaron and Teresa stepped out of the elevator calmly, but Ruby exploded past them. "Why did you make us leave Cerise out there?" she yelled. Her anger poured off her like a waterfall.

Aaron looked at Ruby in shock. This was not the same person he met in the city. Teresa put a calming but firm hand on the young Rider's shoulder. "Ruby, you need to calm down," she said with a bit of concern.

Ruby just shrugged off her hand. "You knew that Cerise was severely injured. That wasn't the medical Bullhead you told Weiss you were sending. They didn't even have any medical gear on there! You had cameras out there too! Why'd you let them get so close? Why didn't you tell me before it happened?"

The woman standing next to Professor Ozpin contorted her own face in anger. "Mind your tongue, Miss Rose," she scolded. "Keep your emotions in your own head as well," She rubbed the top of her head like she had a headache.

"Calm down Glynda," Ozpin soothed as he stood from his chair. "Ruby has every right to be angry with me." He took a sip from his mug, then set it down on his desk. "I will say, Professor Port and Doctor Oobleck were supposed to join Professor Silver and her daughter after they left, but you arrived just as they were preparing to leave Beacon. I did have a medical transport being prepped at the same time as the one that picked you up. Which one I sent depended on him." The man looked at Aaron.

Ruby stared up at Aaron, her rage redirected. The older Rider just stared back at the other man in confusion. "Me?"

The other man nodded. "I'm sorry, let me introduce myself. I'm Professor Ozpin, headmaster of Beacon Academy. This is Glynda Goodwitch, my right-hand woman." Ozpin gestured to the woman standing next to him, who just nodded. "And of course you have already met Professor Teresa Silver."

"I'm Aaron Benson, Rider of Nalia Quickwing," Aaron responded. "Now, how do I fit into this?"

"You have been recorded since your arrival here two weeks ago, including when you healed your own dragon after it was ambushed by Deathstalkers and a Nevermore."

"'She,'" Aaron corrected as he crossed his arms. They were being watched the whole time? "So, you know where we came here, that I can heal severe injuries, and I'm guessing you know where we sleep at night. What else do you know about us?"

"I know you have been into the city on several occasions, I know you ran out of a bombed building, escorting one person out and while carrying another. I know that you killed a creature called a Yoma that attacked you in a back alley. Both happened this morning," Ozpin picked up his mug from his desk, took a small sip, and then looked Aaron in the eyes. "I know you aren't from Remnant."

Aaron blinked twice but otherwise had no outward reaction. This man knew more than he let on. Then again, a green dragon appearing in the middle of a forest in a world where dragons don't exist would tip anybody off. Ruby was listening to the conversation while trying not to explode again and calm herself down. "Again? Seriously?" she eventually asked.

Aaron looked at the younger Rider in surprise. "What do you mean by again?" he asked.

Ozpin took another sip from his mug. "Believe it or not, Mr. Benson," he began, "you and your dragon are not the first individuals from another world. Professor Silver and her daughter are also from another world, as well as two other students at this school."

Aaron looked at the silver-eyed professor. She returned a smile before speaking. "Both me and my daughter are from another land that currently doesn't have a name, but has five named regions. Our world is plagued by creatures called Yoma and Awakened Beings. A corrupt organization, only known as the Organization, creates us Claymores to fight the Yoma and Awakened Beings, but I feel like their true goals are shrouded in shadows and secrets. We left that land to seek refuge and a new life away from what felt like the slavery of the Organization. We believe there have been others who have done the same before us and more to come."

Ozpin set his mug down. "The other two arrived here merely by accident and currently have no clue how to return to their world. I'm sure they will tell you their story in due time. As said, what is your reason for coming to Remnant?" he asked.

"That's a long story," Aaron sighed. "Most of how we got here I will only speak with Nalia about. But you are right, I am not from Remnant." He stopped himself before he said anything further and stretched out his mind to his dragon. _How much should I say? Can we trust these people?_

_Considering they haven't tried to kill us since we've been here, we can trust them a little, but don't give away everything. We need them to like us. _She responded.

Aaron mentally nodded, then focused back on those in the room. "I'm from a land called Alagaësia. Nalia and I are members of the Dragon Rider Order; defenders of the land from war, crime, and other disasters. To put forward a comparison to here, we're the Huntsmen and Huntresses of Alagaësia."

"We aren't exactly here by choice," Aaron continued slowly. "We were betrayed by several of our own. I don't know the details since we were away from our island at the time, but our Order fell in a matter of hours." Aaron looked at his feet and dropped his voice to a whisper. "As far as we know, we're the only ones left."

The last part wasn't a total lie. Brom was still alive, as well as masters Oromis and Glaedr, but all were disabled in their own ways. Still, it had the desired effect on the people in the room. Ruby's anger completely vanished, the one known as Glynda gaped, while both Ozpin and Teresa just nodded in sympathy.

"We've been running for three years. Somewhere along the line, we found a way to leave Alagaësia behind. We intended to find help from another kingdom, or at least other Riders to bring back, but now that we're here, I know there is no easy way to get back." Whether Aaron liked to admit it or not, the only true part in his latest statement was that they were running for three years. Still, the other people in the room sent their sympathy in their own ways.

"Why didn't you say anything before?" Ruby asked.

Aaron scoffed. "It's not exactly something I want people knowing, and really, would you have believed me before the clearing?" Ruby just looked down at her feet and mumbled something Aaron didn't catch.

"I'm sorry for your loss," Ozpin said, "but now we need to talk about what to do now."

Aaron looked at the older man. "The way you say that sounds like you already have an idea."

"This part is for both of you, or rather, your dragons," Ozpin looked at both riders in the room. Ruby immediately looked up with a mixture of hope and skepticism in her eyes. Aaron just recrossed his arms. "There is a warehouse that has been cleaned out in the expectation of building a new dorm building in its place for the next school year. However, now I feel that the space would be better served by housing your dragons."

Both Riders looked at Ozpin in surprise. "Yes!" Ruby blurted out. She immediately covered her mouth and recomposed herself. "I mean, that would be very much appreciated."

_Nalia, _Aaron called out, _what do you think?_

She didn't respond immediately. _It would make us visible, which is what we've been looking for since we've been here. But, we would also be dependent on this Ozpin. Also, what are the odds that a warehouse has been cleared out just when we know we need a place of safety?_

_He definitely has a plan, and we're involved somehow. No one would do something like this with no strings attached. So, do we go along with this?_

Another pause. _What about you? If you're out on your own, that defeats the purpose of having a shelter in the first place._

"What about me?" Aaron asked Beacon's headmaster.

"I understand that you also need a place to stay, but what I have to offer you comes at a price," Ozpin said.

_Here it comes, _Aaron thought.

"The only way I can get you a place to stay is for you to attend Beacon, as a student."

Aaron was surprised again, but not as much as the younger Rider beside him. She looked back and forth between Ozpin and Aaron. "What?" she asked either one of them.

"You would be treated like any other student," he continued, "and as such you will need to go through an initiation trial before you start classes. If you fail, though, there is not much else I can do. But you will not be alone, Professor Silver's daughter will be taking that same initiation with you, along with a few others."

_He's placing a claim on us. I don't like this, but still… _Aaron thought back over the past three years, _it's been so long since we've felt safe._

Aaron felt his dragon's longing over their mental link. _Ruby and Cerise will need someone to teach them. If Ruby trusts Ozpin, I think we should too. She is smarter than she lets on. And… I'm tired of running and hiding. There is no point if there is a place for us to stay free of danger._

_The trial they have planned can't be much more difficult than the training on Vroengard anyway. _Aaron turned his attention to the headmaster. "We accept, and thank you for your offer." Ruby beamed up at the other Rider. She could barely contain herself if the emotions she put out were any indicator. Both Ozpin and Teresa had faint smiles while Glynda wore a slight scowl. Apparently the second in command of Beacon didn't approve.

"I am glad to hear it," Ozpin stated. "There is a room in the dorms you can stay in. I'm sure Miss Rose can show you the way."

Ruby looked up at the headmaster. "Um, me?"

"Room 315. I'm sure you know the way." Ozpin calmly said.

All of a sudden Teresa's faint smile vanished and was replaced with an angry glare that could instantly scare the scales off of any dragon. Luckily, it was not aimed at either Rider.

"Ozpin, a word," Teresa growled.

Ozpin calmly nodded, but Aaron could see a bit of sweat forming on his forehead.

"While I do understand Mister Benson needs a place to stay, I would like you to at least discuss it with me before setting someone else up in the same room as my daughter before her initiation."

"Professor Silver, I understand what you are saying but, Team's CLOD and GYCR have yet to go through their graduation ceremony," Ozpin explained. "Thus the only place I could place Aaron is with Elena. I'm sure both Miss Silver and Mister Benson will behave themselves and it is likely if they pass their initiation, they would end up on the same team."

Teresa just glared at the headmaster for a moment. "If he as much as does something I don't approve of, there will be hell to pay."

Ruby leaned closer to the older Rider. "It was nice knowing ya, Aaron," Ruby whispered in a joking manner. That didn't dampen how scared Aaron felt.

Ozpin reached into his desk and pulled out a brand new tablet of some kind. "Mister Benson, please take this Scroll. It will help you get into your room and do a few other things as well."

As Aaron took the 'Scroll,' a message appeared on a screen on Ozpin's desk. "It looks like your dragons are on their way here." The two Riders immediately turned back to the elevator and entered it. "Oh, and Aaron, welcome to Beacon." The elevator doors closed and the box started to descend.

A tense silence filled the elevator for a few seconds. "So," Aaron finally spoke up, "care to explain why I felt like I was going to die at any second?"

"Something happened to Teresa and her other daughter, Clare, before she arrived on Remnant. Yang covered my ears when Teresa told us that part, so I don't exactly know what happened. But, after that part of the story was told everyone was so angry. Then Teresa said that a bandit was about to do 'the act' to Clare, she not only slaughtered him but the rest of the bandits he was with. I believe she doesn't want something like that to happen to Elena," Ruby explained.

Aaron thought about what Ruby had said. After a few moments, it finally clicked. There was only one other serious crime he could think of besides murder that can cause a parent to lash out like that. Aaron nodded as the elevator dinged and opened on the ground level.

While they both left the building, the older Rider tossed an idea through his head. He needed to teach Ruby how to be a Rider, but he didn't know how to proceed. "Ruby," he eventually said. She turned back to look at him, with an apparent smile that was forming on her face. "I know this will sound weird, but, I would like to be your mentor."

Ruby blinked in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Do you know what it means to be a Rider? Do you know what you can do now that you are one? Do you _know_ how much you mean to Cerise and vice versa?" Ruby shook her head to all the questions. "I know I wouldn't exactly be qualified to teach back in Alagaësia, but times have changed there, and I'm the only other Rider here, so I'll ask again," Aaron looked Ruby right in the eyes, "Ruby Rose, can I be your Rider mentor?"

Ruby thought about it for a moment, or rather, pretended to. "I don't see why not!" she said cheerfully. At that moment a roar rolled over Beacon. Aaron smiled and looked in the direction it came from. Nalia came soaring over the school, with a 'Bullhead' right behind her. She circled the landing area a few times before touching down. The gray transport landed on the pad next to her.

Students ran outside to see what made that roar, several with weapons drawn. Aaron noticed that many of the Faunus students immediately put their weapons away upon seeing Nalia with looks of shock and awe and, surprisingly, hope. Aaron wondered why they were acting like that. The four Aaron and Ruby ran into earlier were among the large group of students. "Uh, Ruby, what's going on here?" Jaune asked, a hand on the pommel of his sword.

Ruby just smiled up at him. "Well, a friendly dragon just landed."

Jaune looked at Ruby in confusion. "Friendly? How can you know?"

A small red-scaled head poked out from behind Nalia's. Cerise let a soft, high pitch roar and jumped off the larger dragon's back. Ruby's face lit up again. "That's how." She started running to her dragon, who was doing the same thing. The two met, and due to Cerise' larger mass, she tackled her Rider to the ground.

If the students didn't have their weapons drawn before, they did now, all were pointed at the red dragon. Only one group of four students moved in a non threatening way. While many of the students held their breath, these four were holding back their laughter. A few students looked up when the doors on the Bullhead opened up and the rest of team RWBY and Elena stepped out. They froze in place staring at Ruby and Cerise, Yang burst out in laughter, startling almost everyone in the audience. "Hey Aaron, does this happen a lot?" she called.

"Until they're about six months old," he responded as he walked up to Nalia. Aaron felt the tension in the air slowly draining away. He heard parts of several conversations, a good chunk of them wondering why Ruby's team wasn't coming to her aid.

_Well, at least they aren't trying to kill us right now,_ Nalia said to Aaron. _That's already an improvement from Alagaësia._

_That could change very quickly. _Aaron put a hand on Nalia's snout and she hummed low and long. While the gesture was personal, it also helped convey that they weren't threats. For the most part, it worked. When Aaron turned around, most people lowered their weapons, those that still had them raised were unsure. Aaron smiled. _There are times when I like to be wrong._

The small group of four Aaron had noticed earlier moved towards Cerise. The red dragon noticed the group and hummed. "How are you doing, Cerise?" one of them asked as he scratched behind the hatchling's ear, drawing out a long purr. That sealed the deal and caused those that still had their weapons out to store them away.

"She grew up fast," a female voice commented while her dark-haired friend simply smiled.

"Need some help, Ruby?" the other guy asked while watching the young Rider crawl out from beneath her dragon.

"Thanks, Hunter," she said as he helped her up to her feet. Ruby turned and held her dragon's head in both hands, looking into her eyes. They were communicating without words, the Rider's facial expression changing every few seconds. Eventually Ruby touched her forehead to Cerise' snout. "I'm glad you're okay," she whispered.

Aaron took a closer look at the young dragon. Cerise was panting and her legs were shaking uncontrollably. Aaron put a hand on the other Rider's shoulder. "Ruby, we should probably get to the warehouse," he said.

Ruby nodded. "The warehouse is on the other side of campus. Our Scrolls should give us access to the building. Let's get moving." With that, the Riders and dragons slowly made their way through the crowd. People stared but got out of the way. The other members of team RWBY, Elena, Hunter, and his team formed an honor guard around Cerise, leaving Aaron alone with Nalia. He didn't mind. Cerise needed all the protection she could get, even if the crowd wasn't hostile.

_We weren't as invisible as we thought, _Nalia told Aaron. _Blake said she saw me on our first day here. How many other people knew about us after we arrived?_

Aaron thought it over. _Her, Ozpin, Goodwitch, and Teresa for sure. I wouldn't put it past the White Fang to at least be searching for us._

Nalia hummed her agreement. _We may have some problems in the future then. But, from what Blake has told me, many of the White Fang may be less of a problem with me or Cerise around._

_How come? _Aaron asked, even though he thought his dragon was just boasting a bit.

_Apparently, Blake told me there was a legend that foretold of our arrival, that would bring about a warrior known as the Dragon Faunus. A good portion of the Faunus believe in this legend and some of them hold it religiously, taking vows to protect those related to that legend until it is fulfilled._

This surprised Aaron. _I'll have to ask Blake about this legend then._

The group reached the warehouse without incident. It wasn't exactly a house from Doru Araeba, but the doors on it could allow access to a dragon a little larger than Nalia. Aaron couldn't even guess what needed doors that size. Probably one of those vehicles with the large boxes on the back, but even then it seemed like it was too much.

Ruby walked up to a smaller door, unlocked it and walked inside. A few seconds later, the large door opened with loud screeching sounds. Aaron winced at the sound, as did everyone else. Ruby slowly came into sight covering her ears. When the noise and the door came to a stop, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, even the dragons. "Anyone have some DW-30?" Ruby asked.

"I think it will take a little more than that to fix it," Weiss sighed. The group walked inside and Aaron took a look around at Nalia's new home. The majority of the room was a dull gray color with random stains across the floor. Lights hung from the ceiling some forty feet off the floor.

_Well, at least we know why this building was being torn down,_ Aaron said to Nalia.

The dragon rumbled in agreement. _It's still better than running from the Forsworn._

_Can't argue with that._

The condition of the building was not lost on the group. "What was even stored in here?" Hunter asked no one in particular.

"Dust for sure, but judging by the floor, I'd say a little bit of everything," Weiss chipped in.

Cerise rumbled unhappily up at Ruby. "I know it's not my room, but it's better than the cave, right?" the new Rider comforted her dragon. Aaron and Nalia locked eyes. This place better than a cave? They had a lot of work to do.

"Don't worry, Cerise," Hunter said. "If Ruby could, she would turn this place into a Shatterdome." Suddenly, Hunter's friend elbowed him in the side of the torso, causing Hunter to grunt in pain.

"What's a Shatterdome?" Aaron asked.

"It's a place where my aunt works at," the man sighed.

"Oh! I almost forgot," Ruby said. "Aaron, meet Team SPHR. They're friends of ours and first years like us. Guys meet Aaron."

"My name is Aaron Benson, Rider of Nalia Quickwing," Aaron said introducing himself.

"Hello there, I'm Shade Royal," Shade said introducing himself. "This is my partner Hunter Green," he gestured to Hunter who was still rubbing his side. "We are pilots of the Jaeger, Diamond Banshee. This is Petra brown," again gesturing to the long brown-haired girl. "And Rona Ebony," the short dark-haired girl.

"Hello," they all said.

Nearby, Nalia had looked over the warehouse. She found a suitable spot in a corner in the back and settled down as best she could. Aaron walked over to his dragon and removed all but one of the saddlebags in preparation to bring them to his new room. The last one contained the two remaining eggs. He checked inside just to make sure they were still there. Sure enough, one gold and one green egg rested peacefully. Aaron placed a hand on each one, knowing the dragons inside would take comfort in the presence of a Rider. Breathing a sigh of relief, he grabbed the removed bags and walked to the door.

"You ready?" Ruby asked as Aaron reached the group.

"I got everything I need," he replied.

"Okay! This way to your-"

_No!_ Cerise interrupted. Aaron noticed the surprised look on Team SPHR's faces. Most likely it was the first time they have heard a dragon's mental voice. Everyone turned to look at the young dragon. She was laying in the corner right by the main door, too exhausted to move any farther. Her eyes were wide and pleading. _Stay!_

Ruby walked up and knelt by her dragon. She gently caressed Cerise' head. "I'm not leaving you like that again. I'll be back in ten minutes, maybe less." Cerise hummed and licked her Rider's cheek.

"Hey Ruby," Shade called out. "If it's alright with you, we can keep an eye on her till you get back."

_Please, _Cerise asked.

"She doesn't mind and I'm okay with it," Ruby said. She stood back up and fast-walked back to and out the main door. All the other two-legs followed behind except for Team SPHR, who tried their best to make the small red dragon comfortable.

As the group walked, many other students stared at Ruby like she suddenly grew a second head. Seeing Cerise tackle her and Ruby being okay with it must have struck an unusual chord for them. Ruby didn't notice the attention she received or didn't care. Still, no one stopped the group anywhere across the school.

"Elena, are you going to tell us who made that outfit you're wearing?" Yang curiously asked.

Elena smiled. "Mom made a deal with a second-year student named Coco, who was starting to slack in her grades. Mom said that if she could make me a new outfit that I liked, she would get enough extra credit so she wouldn't fail."

"Why did you change the color of the grip on your claymore to green?" Ruby asked.

"It was something I should have done when I was still working for the Organization," she said. "The grip color helps other Claymores know if you're either an offensive type or defensive type. I'm a defensive type but my claymore's grip color was wrong, so I went and fixed it."

"But why is Teresa's blue?" Yang wondered out loud.

"That has more to do with her former rank in the Organization," Elena explained. "Normally, a Claymore's grip color is either red or green, but if she becomes a single digit in rank her claymore's grip is to become blue."

"What was her former rank?" team RWBY asked in their own ways all at once.

Elena smiled while silently chuckling. "Number one. And that was long before she had unlocked her Aura."

All of Team Ruby each had their own versions of shock on their face.

"What was your rank?" Aaron asked.

"Second from the bottom. Number forty-six," she said sadly. "I wasn't with the Organization long enough to attempt to raise my rank."

"Don't worry," Yang comforted the young Claymore, "by the time you graduate Beacon, you will be a lot stronger. And that's without your semblance. Just wait till you unlock it."

"And what a day that will be," Ruby said joyfully. "Oh here's the dorm building."

Ruby led the way through the dorm building and stopped by a room labeled '315.'

"Uh, Ruby, why are we in front of my room?" Elena asked.

"Apparently, there aren't any empty dorm rooms. So, Ozpin is making Aaron bunk with you until initiation day," Ruby explained.

"Mom isn't going to be happy about this," Elena sighed.

"She wasn't," Aaron confirmed.

"Well I'll show you around then," she said as she unlocked the door with her Scroll, while Ruby took off to a room three doors down. "I haven't been on Remnant for very long, so I don't have that much stuff."

Elena opened the door and they both stepped inside. It was rather large for both of them. But then again, there were four beds in the room. A couple of desks rested against the wall next to the entrance to the room. All of the walls were the same shade of off-white. The only real color in the room came from the red curtains and bedding. For the people of Remnant, it was probably rather bland, but for the two that lived without a place to call home for the last few years, the room might as well have been a mansion from their respective home worlds.

Aaron noticed a small hole on the floor next to one of the side beds. Before he could ask about it, Elena walked over and stabbed her claymore into the hole. Then, she simply sat down on the floor and laid back on her sword.

"Sorry, force of habit," Elena said. "I'm still not used to sleeping in a real bed and this is how I used to sleep."

Aaron nodded in understanding.

"Now some ground rules for both of us till our initiation day," she began. "Your bed is on the opposite wall of mine, mom's rule not mine. Always knock before entering the bathroom. And finally, changing clothes only happens in the bathroom. Simple enough."

Aaron nodded as he threw his bags on his bed. A thunder of footsteps running past the door caught Aaron's attention. "Would someone please explain what's going on here?" he heard Jaune yell in the hall. Aaron walked out of his room to see the commotion. Team RWBY minus their leader stood by their room. Across from them stood the four that tried to talk to Ruby earlier.

"Sorry about Ruby," Yang apologized. "She's had a rough day."

"You remember that night when Ruby 'fell out of bed?'" Weiss asked. Jaune just nodded. "That was the night Cerise hatched for her."

"Cerise? The dragon?" the red-haired girl asked.

"Why didn't she tell us? I bet that dragon was cute when it was young!" the orange-haired girl rambled.

"She," Aaron cut in. All the other students looked over at him, just noticing the Rider in the hall. "Cerise is a she. As for why Ruby hid her, I'm sure she had her reasons."

"I'm sorry, I don't believe we've met," the red-head said.

"My name is Aaron Benson, Rider of Nalia Quickwing."

Jaune nodded after a second's hesitation. "Well, I'm Jaune Arc. This is Pyrrha Nikos," he gestured to the red-head, "Nora Valkyrie," the orange-haired girl, "And Lie Ren," the other guy with a pink stripe in his hair. "We're team JNPR, first years like teams RWBY and SPHR."

Aaron looked over the newly introduced team, then nodded. "Well met, team JNPR. I'd stay and chat longer but I need to get back to my dragon." He turned around and started walking back to the dragons' warehouse.

"Well met? Uh, you guys know if he's from the same place as Professor Silver?" Jaune asked someone quietly, but Aaron heard it anyway. The Rider shook his head. He added the phrase to a growing mental list of things he needed to stop saying. As much as he hated having to cut even the smallest ties to his home, he needed to blend in. Well, as much as he could with a green dragon following him everywhere.

Instead of walking straight to the warehouse, he wandered around the grounds for a while. He thought he recognized what some of the buildings were. A forge, an armory, the buildings with the stacked bedrooms. Then there were a few that were large enough for several dragons the size of Master Glaedr. With no dragons native to this land, why would buildings need to be that size?

Eventually, Aaron set his sights on the warehouse. He didn't realize how long he walked around, the sun was setting over the ocean to the west. His stomach rumbled for his attention for the first time, and the Rider realized he hadn't eaten since his meal with team RWBY nearly eight hours ago. During that time he expended a lot of energy healing Cerise. He knew he'd be eating like a Kull in the morning.

_Be quiet when you open the door,_ Nalia said as her Rider approached. _The others are already asleep. _Aaron opened the human-sized door slowly and looked to his left. Sure enough, Ruby had her arms wrapped around Cerise' neck while a wing covered the girl.

Aaron smiled at the sight. _Her arms are going to be sore in the morning. _He quietly walked up to Nalia and already lifted a wing for her Rider.

_By the way, Ruby left a little food here for you if you're interested._

That caught Aaron's attention. _Where?_

_I moved the box to your usual spot. _Somehow Aaron didn't notice the small red box by Nalia's belly. He opened it and saw four light brown circles with black spots scattered around each. Aaron smiled. The last time he had cookies was before Vroengard.

_She say what the black spots were?_ Aaron asked.

_I think she said 'chocolate chips,' or something along those lines._ Aaron cautiously took a bite, then his eyes rolled into the back of his head. The cookie was nice and warm, whether it was from being fresh or from being so close to a fire-breather, Aaron didn't know or care. He guessed the chocolate chips were something only Alagaësia's elite had access to if even them. Aaron stuffed the remaining cookies into his mouth, then collapsed against Nalia, satisfied.

_Well, that was something, _Aaron thought happily.

_Little Cerise had some too. She had the same opinion._

Aaron took a look around the warehouse. _I'll see what I can do about this place while we're here. Get these stains out of the floor, add some color to the place, and just make it livable in general._

_Well, you don't have to worry about that now. Rest. We're all tired._

Aaron yawned. _Well, good night Nalia._

_Good night Aaron. _Nalia dropped her wing, sealing her Rider in for the night.

**[...]**

**A/N: Wow that was a bit longer than I expected. Anyway, I hope everyone here has had a good indoors Easter this year. **

**After checking my notes, there should be a few chapters before a big reveal and right after that is when season two of RWBY begins with the long-awaited arrival of another group of individuals. I hope you all are excited.**

**Everyone stay safe and try to get through these troubling times wisely.**


	20. Memories

**A/N: Some sad news people. Rick May, the voice actor for Soldier from Team Fortress 2, passed away while I was writing this chapter. Soldier and his fellow mercs are supposed to appear later on in this story but it's sad that this has happened. Let's all take a moment of silence to honor this legend.**

**Thank you now here is what you all have been waiting for and it's another long chapter.**

**[...]**

Ruby rolled out her shoulders for the umpteenth time since waking up half an hour ago. Having her arms wrapped around Cerise all night didn't agree with her body. One of the dragon's wings was in a similar situation, having rested at an awkward angle all night while covering Ruby. Neither of them regretted it.

On the other side of the warehouse, Nalia yawned and stretched out like a cat. Aaron stood a few feet away from his dragon going through his own set of stretches. "Good morning!" Ruby called out.

Aaron looked over at the other Rider and laughed. "Good and morning don't belong in the same sentence."

"One of those people huh?" Ruby walked up to Aaron, shaking her head.

_No, he likes the morning, _Nalia said, _he just doesn't like waking up and having to move._

Ruby chuckled. "That I can relate to." She heard a low growling sound and she turned to Aaron. He blushed and looked to the side.

"Uh, is there anywhere we can get something to eat around here?" he asked sheepishly.

Ruby worked hard to stop herself from laughing even more. "There's a cafeteria here where you can eat all you want. The others are supposed to be there right now. I'm sure they'll want to hear what's really going on here."

Aaron scratched behind his head. "I do have a lot of explaining to do. Honestly, though, A lot of things might have to stay between me and you and our dragons."

The younger Rider cocked her head in confusion. "Why? You don't trust them?"

"Trust isn't an issue here," Aaron threw his hands up in defense. "I'm sure if you asked them, they wouldn't reveal anything. Some things though need to be kept between Riders."

Ruby nodded hesitantly. "Okay, well, this way to the cafeteria." She walked towards the doors but stopped when she came in line with Cerise.

_Food? _The young dragon asked.

"Hey Nalia," Ruby called back. "Think you could get some food for Cerise again?"

_Of course, _the green dragon responded, _I'll take her out to the forest so she can get some water as well. _Ruby flinched at the mention of the forest. _Don't worry, the Grimm won't get within one hundred feet of Cerise. They will die long before that happens._

Ruby nodded hesitantly and walked out of the warehouse with Aaron in tow. The two continued in silence until the warehouse was out of sight. "How long until Cerise is able to take care of herself again?" she eventually asked.

Aaron's eyes closed a fraction of the way like he was in deep thought. "She's strong, and she has you, so I'd give her about two or three more days until she can fly and hunt again."

"Me? What can I do?"

"You being there does more than you think, in addition to a few other perks of being bonded." Ruby kept looking at Aaron with interest, expecting him to go on. "Sorry, those are some of the things that need to be kept between us, and there are people with enhanced hearing around."

Ruby nodded and kept walking toward the cafeteria. She wasn't sure she liked how secretive Aaron was being, but if that's how things were run back in, _What was it called, Alagaësia? _She would go with it.

"Ruby, can you answer something for me?" Aaron asked.

"Sure, ask away."

"You remember when Ozpin said that there were other students..." he paused for a moment, most likely trying to find the right words. "Students like me and Elena. Who are they?"

Ruby smiled. "You already met them. Shade and Hunter aren't from Vale either," she said, remembering her promise to the two pilots to keep their secret from the other students until they were ready to tell everyone.

Aaron simply nodded.

Soon the cafeteria came into sight. Ruby proceeded toward it like it was any other day. Aaron, however, pulled back a few steps. "This is the cafeteria?" he asked.

Ruby turned back to look at Aaron. His mouth hung open and his eyes were taking in the building in front of him. "Yeah, is that a problem?"

Aaron shook his head. "It's the size of some of the houses on Doru Araeba, albeit the smaller ones." He winced and looked away. Ruby wasn't sure if she should be worried about the one who offered to train her or laugh at him. Eventually, she just shrugged and waved him on.

The pair entered the building and made their way to the serving line. Several people cast glances in their direction but Ruby ignored them. They would get used to seeing Cerise around Beacon and wouldn't care anymore. At least, the young Rider hoped so. She didn't like the stares, and she didn't know how Cerise would act in the same situation.

As Ruby proceeded through the line, she felt Aaron's eyes on her the whole time, like he wasn't sure what to do. "Come on, Aaron, It's not rocket science," she said.

Aaron raised an eyebrow. "What's 'rocket science?'"

Ruby chuckled. She had a lot of work to do. "Something that very few people understand." They reached the end of the line and Ruby scanned the large room for her team. It didn't take long since Yang was standing up and waving both arms frantically. The pair from the line slowly made their way to the waving girl. Ruby noticed Elena sitting across the table from her team, who was silently waving to the two Riders as well.

"Hey Ruby," Yang called when the Riders got reasonably close, "what happened to you last night?"

"Not much," Ruby said as she sat down at the table next to Elena. "I was about to come back, but Cerise put one of her wings over me and fell asleep. I couldn't leave then."

Yang, Blake, and Elena just smiled. "Makes sense," Blake said.

Weiss, on the other hand, looked mortified. "You slept on _that_ floor?" she asked.

"It wasn't that bad where Cerise was."

"Besides," Elena joined in, "I doubt sleeping in there is not as bad as sleeping in certain areas out in the wilderness. Trust me, I know how bad it can get."

"Also," Aaron spoke up, "if your dragon needs you, no place is as comfortable as the space under a dragon's wing, even if you are sore in the morning or sleeping on a pile of rocks."

"I'd have to agree with that." Ruby dug into pancakes almost as fast as Nora would. As fast as she was though, Aaron was faster. He took twice the stack as Ruby, and it was gone in about half the time. Shortly after his plate was empty he stood back up to go get more.

Yang whistled. "Dang, he sure eats a lot."

"Eating at that rate can't be healthy," Weiss sighed.

"Do you remember how much I ate my first week here after I unlocked my Aura?" Elena said. "And how much energy I needed until it stabilized. After healing Cerise, I wouldn't be surprised if he needed a lot of food to regain all that energy he lost."

"Well, you were regenerating your new arm at the same time," Ruby pointed out. "And Aaron did have a long day yesterday. I honestly don't think he had the time for a real meal since lunch yesterday." Soon after, Aaron returned with a plate full of bacon, sausage, and tater tots. All of it was drenched in maple syrup.

"Well, I haven't seen that before," Blake said, looking at the soggy tater tots.

Aaron shrugged. "Essentially everything here is new to me, and I like to try new things."

Yang raised both her eyebrows. "Don't tell me you've never had syrup before." Aaron shook his head. "Okay, that stuff's universal across Remnant, whether you're in a Kingdom or not. Where are you from?"

Aaron chucked after he stuffed a few strips of bacon into his mouth. "I figured I'd have to answer this sooner or later," he sighed. He stayed quiet for several seconds and turned his head slightly to his shoulders. Ruby figured he was contacting Nalia, what for, she couldn't guess.

Eventually, Aaron focused back on the group at the table. "In case you haven't figured it out, I'm not from Vacuo, or Vale, or Remnant at all. I'm from a land called Alagaësia. If I'm remembering your history books right, technologically we're about what you call the Middle Ages." All the girls at the table leaned in closer to Aaron, intrigued by his revelation. Even so, Weiss looked skeptical.

"I grew up in the city of Teirm, a large, coastal trading city on the west coast of Alagaësia. I don't really remember much about my first five or so years, but I do know my parents died in a house fire when I was three." Blake and Weiss gasped in surprise. On the other hand, Ruby, Yang, and Elena nodded in sympathy. Ruby also wondered why he was going into that kind of detail now.

"After the fire, I lived alone on the streets for two years. Unlike here, there are no orphanages or homeless shelters in Alagaësia. There was no help for a 'street rat' like me. I did what I had to do in order to survive. Most of it I regret to this day."

Aaron paused, and his eyebrows contorted as if he was remembering something unpleasant. "One person in the city took pity on me and took me under his wing. I didn't know it at the time, but he was a master jewel thief. He could break into almost anywhere. Everyone had bounties on him from the elves to the dwarves." He shuddered. "He was turning me into his apprentice, and I was too young and stupid to understand."

"I did everything he wanted me to do, from providing distractions to breaking into places myself. The only places he didn't have me break into were military and government buildings. The thing is, I was good at it. I never was caught or even noticed. No one even suspected me. Then again, who would suspect the orphan boy begging on the corner would be a master thief?

"This continued for three years. One night, he had me break into the house of the couple who owned the largest fishing company in Teirm. It was simple enough. The couple was supposed to be away on business with the house empty except for a few servants who would be asleep late at night. It started out like any other job; Opening a window from the outside and creeping through the house. I made my way to the master bedroom where most of their valuables would most likely be kept. The jewels and coins were where I expected them to be, but then the couple entered the room behind me."

"I thought you said you were never caught?" Ruby interrupted.

Aaron chuckled. "Up until that point, that was true. That night was the first and only time I was ever caught, and it turned out to be one of the best things that could have happened."

The older Rider closed his eyes in thought. "Instead of trying to cut my hands off and leaving me in the street as any other person would have, they offered me food and most of the jewels in their bedroom. The food alone was enough. I only had rotten and stale food since my house burned down. At their table, they seemed genuinely interested in me. They were concerned for me. I had no idea why." Aaron sighed. "Never before had anyone showed me that kind of kindness. I never even deserved it."

"I didn't go back to that… _criminal,_ after I left the house. I left with the jewels and spent the night on the opposite side of the city from him. In the morning, I went back to the couple's house and returned what I took. They asked where I learned to steal like that. I told them and they were mortified. They weren't mad at me, they were worried sick for me. Again, I had no idea why. They offered me a temporary room in their house that could become permanent if I behaved myself."

"I told them where to find," Aaron paused and contorted his face, "my… master… and later that day he was arrested. Two days later he met the noose. Can't say I feel sorry for the bastard, but I still don't think killing him was the best course of action. He was terrified of prison. They should have let him rot." He looked up to see shocked looks on Team RWBY's faces. Elena, on the other hand, seemed unphased by what he had said. "What?"

"They _hanged_ him?" Weiss said, trying to keep her shock from being carried out of the group. "Two days after he was _arrested?_"

Aaron nodded. "Justice is swift in Alagaësia, and the punishment for many crimes is death."

"Back to more happy thoughts, the stay at the couple's house turned permanent. Apparently, they were friends of my parents before the fire. They moved to Teirm to take me in, but could never track me down. They stayed in hopes that they could find me, and I'm so glad they did. They raised me as their own after that.

"Two weeks after my tenth birthday, a Rider carrying eggs came to Teirm." Ruby's ears perked up. She leaned in even closer as to not miss a word. "Every ten-year-old is required to be brought before dragon eggs to see if they will hatch. Older kids may come as well as long as the eggs are different from what they've come in contact with before."

Aaron smiled. "The hatching time can be anywhere from a few hours to a couple of weeks. I only had to wait two days before Nalia hatched for me." He sighed. "That was the best day of my life. It's hard to describe in words, but it's like the other half of me I didn't know wasn't there had come back." He looked ruby in the eyes. "You may or may not feel that now, but you will."

Ruby looked away and blushed. "So what happened after that?" she asked.

Aaron hesitated. "All I can say is Nalia and I were brought to Vroengrad, the Order's home base, for training. The rest needs to stay between you and me."

Yang crossed her arms. "So what brings you here?" she asked.

All of Aaron's previous happiness drained away in a second. "We were betrayed by one of our own. He built up an army and attacked Vroengrad." He hung his head and his voice dropped even quieter. "All those loyal on the island were killed. As far as I know, Nalia and I are the last ones alive." Everyone but Ruby gasped. She heard that part in Ozpin's office.

"You really don't have to go on," Blake said while putting a hand up. "All that can't be easy to say."

Elena placed a comforting hand on Aaron's shoulder. "Don't give up hope Aaron," she said. "Some of your friends may still be alive. You and Nalia survived and made it here. Don't you think there are others that have found their own safe place as well?"

Aaron sighed. "Thank you. I needed that. As for other survivors, I'm not so sure. We've been on the run for three years, and this is the first time since the Fall that we've felt even remotely safe." An awkward silence fell over the table for a few minutes. Aaron seemed out of it and all members of team RWBY and Elena were processing what they heard.

Eventually Ruby broke the silence. "Want to hear about my time with Cerise?" she asked, trying to improve the mood.

Aaron sighed and a corner of his lip slightly rose. "I would like that." Ruby began with finding Cerise' egg in the Emerald Forest. The other Rider breathed a sigh of relief when Ruby mentioned that there were no Grimm around the egg. She moved on to Cerise hatching that night and everything that happened. Aaron cast a cautious glance at Yang when he heard of her reaction to the bonding.

"If it means anything now, I would never even consider doing it again," she defended, with more than a hint of guilt in her voice.

Aaron nodded, then motioned for Ruby to continue. She explained the team's trip to the city the day after, intentionally glossing over their rather direct encounter that day. She outlined the research that she, Blake, and Blake's younger brother had conducted on dragons, most of which Aaron either corrected, confirmed, or denied. Ruby then explained her first unintentional spreading of her mind. Aaron's attention increased tenfold. Ruby could practically see the gears turning behind his eyes.

She went on to explain the food struggles over the first week and how she found a place for Cerise in the forest. Ruby recapped the past week quickly, as the only things that happened were Ruby's occasional visits to the cave. Then came the apartment fire and the first time she intentionally sent her mind out of her head, when not talking to Cerise anyway. This also caught Aaron's attention, the gears in his head turning even more. Ruby didn't know what he was thinking, but it probably involved whatever training she was in for.

Ruby then went on to explain how Cerise got her injuries the day before. She started with explaining why she was freaking out in the restaurant, then how she found Cerise and what happened when she killed the Beowolf back. This quickly caught Elena's attention. Then the younger Rider explained how she did what she could to treat the injuries and try to get her to Beacon.

"That's about when you showed up," Ruby finished.

Aaron nodded. "Did Cerise kill any of those Beowolves before you showed up?" he asked.

Ruby hesitated. "I don't know." She stretched her mind out to Cerise and asked her.

_Two, _she replied, _then too many. _Ruby nodded then passed it on.

Aaron covered his mouth with his hand in thought. "So this is what I'm working with," Ruby heard from behind the blockage. "I must say, for someone with no formal instruction in your mental capabilities and having no idea how to take care of a dragon, you have done fairly well for yourself."

Ruby blushed. "Well, I'm just glad I had some help. She looked at her friends and smiled. "They all helped out in some way."

"So it would seem. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go get more pancakes." Aaron got up and walked back to the serving line.

"Well, he has mood swings," Yang commented. "People don't go from depression to intense intrigue at the drop of a hat."

"Uh, Yang, remember me yesterday?" Ruby asked her sister.

Yang shrugged. "It must be a Rider thing."

A few minutes later, Aaron returned with his stack of pancakes; which each one apparently had different topping flavors baked in. Again, his food was soaked in maple syrup. As he sat down, Yang cleared her throat.

"Well, we've heard Aaron tell his story," she stated. "But, there is one thing I would like to know."

Aaron raised an eyebrow. "What would you like to know?" he asked.

Yang just smiled and turned her head towards Elena. "What's your story?"

"Huh?" The young silver-eyed warrior was completely caught off guard by Yang's question.

"Aaron told us his story. So what's yours?" she asked.

Elena sighed. "Might as well." Team RWBY and Aaron leaned in closer so they wouldn't miss anything.

"I was born in a small cabin out in the green grasslands of Toulouse near the Holy city, Rabona. Every weekend my parents would take me, my older brother, and my little sister to the city for church and to get food for the following week. During that time my father sold gitterns and similar instruments for a living and my mom sang for the holy choir every Sunday. Funnily enough, I think that's how my parents met." she held back a small chuckle.

"During the week my father would go to neighboring villages or the nearby forest to get the supplies for the instruments he made, while the rest of us would work on the small farm we had and do basic chores. It was a basic life and I couldn't have been happier."

The smile on her face vanished. "Then a couple of months after I turned six, my father went into the forest to gather the best wood he could get for this large order from the church itself. As he was gathering the wood, he was attacked by a Yoma. He managed to fend it off for a bit, but dad still got hurt. But that's when a Claymore arrived and defended him. Her name was Hilda and she was an old friend of my father before she became a Claymore."

A smile returned to her face. "Unlike most people who avoid Claymores or outright racist to them, my father respected them and saw them as actual people and not monsters. After killing the Yoma and doing her best to patch my father up, she helped him return home with the wood he needed. My father was grateful and later began to teach me and my siblings to be thankful and respect the Warriors of Silver."

Blake's eyes suddenly widened. "Elena, are you saying that Claymore's are _the_ Warriors of Silver?" she asked.

"Professor Ozpin and Professor Goodwitch think so, but it's just one of the few names we Claymores are called," Elena responded.

"What's the other names?" Ruby innocently asked.

"Well there's our main name, Claymores, but there is also Silver-eyed warriors, Silver-eyed slayers, Silver-eyed witches," Elena's voice saddened a bit. "And some people just flat-out call us monsters and some other names that I will not say."

"Well, to us, you're not a monster. You're our friend," Ruby said with a faint smile on her face.

"Well I'm glad you guys feel that way because the church didn't." There was more than a hint of sadness in her voice. "They have a firm belief that Claymores are the same as Yoma and have openly banned them from their city and churches. The church had found out that my father was friends with a Claymore. So they only paid him a fourth of their original agreement for his instruments. After that, my father kept selling fewer and fewer instruments each year. It was only because of my mother that we managed to stay afloat."

"This continued for three years, until one night a Yoma broke into our home." Tears began to fall from Elena's silver eyes. "Both Dad and Ryan tried to fend off the Yoma, while mom tried to protect Ariya. I managed to get outside and hide under the old oak tree my family took care of. I saw the Yoma kill my parents and siblings and then consume their insides. The whole time it was laughing like a maniac."

Team RWBY looked at Elena with looks of shock and horror on their faces while Aaron did his best to soothe the young Claymore's emotional state. After a few minutes, Elena calmed down enough to speak without crying.

"I'm… I'm sorry about that," she said while wiping the tears from her eyes. "It's been eight years since my family died and I've never had the chance to mourn for them."

Blake reached out and placed a comforting hand on Elena's right hand. "That's alright," she said, "if you don't want to say anything else you don't have to."

"If it means anything, I'm sorry for asking you to remember that." Yang apologized.

"Thank you, all of you. But, it's alright, it wouldn't be fair for Aaron to be the only one to tell his story." Elena took in a deep breath to help stabilize her emotions before continuing her story. "I hid under the tree for two days, only coming out when the Yoma couldn't see me so I could drink from the creek a few feet away."

"When I woke up on the third day, I heard someone fighting the Yoma. When I crawled out from under the old oak tree, I saw a Claymore fighting the Yoma. It already had lost one of its arms while the silver-eyed warrior didn't even have a scratch. She managed to immobilize the Yoma after she severed its legs and quickly sliced through its head. Once the Yoma was dead, I ran to the Claymore to thank her. I asked what her name was and it turns out her name was Hilda, the very same Claymore who was my father's friend."

"I intended to ask her to help me get to Rabona to seek help from some of the nuns who helped raise the orphans in the city. She agreed to help me get there. After we buried my family next to the oak tree, we began our journey to the holy city only to be stopped half an hour later by her handler. The man saw me and instead of dropping me off at the city, he took me to the eastern lands of Sutare. That's when my nightmare continued."

Elena's voice grew quieter as she continued. "The man in black took me to a nameless town that was on Sutare's easternmost coast. That is where a group called The Organization operates from. The man left me in a room with a bunch of other young girls all around my age. That is when I learned the awful truth about Claymores. No one ever chooses to become a Claymore."

Elena flinched for a moment and clutched her chest. "One by one another man in black with half of his face burnt away, took us to a second room to turn us into Claymores. The process was the most painful thing I had ever experienced. They did nothing to relieve the pain as my body was cut open. The blood in my body was replaced with a Yoma's and they surgically implanted Yoma flesh and organs. Every time I thought I was gonna pass out from the pain, they injected me with something to keep me awake."

Ruby heard an angry growl coming from her sister. For a moment, she looked over at Yang and saw her sister's eyes had turned a deep crimson.

Elena took another deep breath before continuing. "After the surgery, they crudely sewed me up and threw me into a small cramped prison-like area with one other person who went through the same process. There was only one small bed in the cell and we didn't care if we had to share because of all the pain we were in. Later that night, our transformations truly began." She reached over her shoulder and grabbed some of her silver-blonde hair. The young Claymore looked at her own hair in sorrow. "My golden-brown hair lost its color and my emerald green eyes became silver."

"Wait," Weiss interrupted, "your hair and eye color aren't naturally those colors?"

Elena shook her head. "The full transformation took a full painful three years. Once it was over we were finally let out of those _cages_ and given four years of training. Some of which I should have never been taught how to do."

"Like what?" Yang asked.

"From how to properly blush like an aristocrat to smile like a prostitute. All for so-called covert operations."

Everyone's faces turned bright red. "You didn't do any of that _stuff_, did you?" Weiss asked, though a bit concerned.

"No, I didn't. I'm just happy I didn't need to use those so-called skills. I never had a chance to do any of those covert operations."

Weiss let out a sigh of relief. "Well, let's hope that never happens."

Elena nodded. "Anyway, after we mastered our sword skills and other training. We were given one last test. Our own initiation. And it was a slaughter."

"Come on, it couldn't have been that bad," Yang said trying to lighten the mood a bit.

Elena's silver eyes turned cold. "On average, one in ten of us recruits survive the initiation. That is if normal methods were used."

"What do you mean by normal methods?" Aaron asked.

"Normally we are split up into two teams of five. Our goal is to capture the enemy flag."

"That doesn't sound too bad," Ruby said optimistically.

"But there is always a twist. In the area we have our initiation, the Organization normally releases a normal Yoma or a winged version. The one I had to fight was the worst of the worst. A Voracious Eater."

"What's a Voracious Eater?" Aaron asked.

"A Voracious Eater is a type of Yoma that is stronger, faster, smarter and larger than most. The worst part about them is their appetite. A normal Yoma only feeds on humans at most once a week. However, a Voracious Eater will constantly eat anything remotely human. Also, a normal Yoma will only eat a person's guts. A Voracious Eater will eat every part of a human and will even try to consume Claymores if they have to."

"That sounds like nightmare fuel," Yang said.

"The one I fought at the docks a few weeks ago is what you would consider a normal type of Yoma." Elena said to give a baseline example.

"That was a normal one!" Blake exclaimed. "The same one that kicked you through that SDC shipping container?"

She simply nodded. "The Voracious Eater killed everyone in surprise attacks. The only reason why I survived was…" Elena's face suddenly reddened with embarrassment. "...was because I slipped on some sand and fell flat on my face."

"I hate to admit it, but we all have been there," Blake said sympathetically. Everyone at the table nodded in agreement.

"After I managed to kill the Voracious Eater, the Organization gave me a total of four things before sending me off to kill Yoma. First was my emblem, then my own claymore, a set of armor, and finally my rank of number forty-six." Elena sighed. "As I left to do my first mission for them, they assigned a man named Rubel as my handler. He was kinder than most of those who were part of the Organization. After we left and headed to the western lands of Lautrec, he gave me a warning. Should I ever try to escape the Organization, they would track me down and kill me."

"Why the hell did he tell you that!" Yang almost shouted.

"He didn't tell me that to control me." Elena said calmly. "He told me because he actually cared about my well being. For the following year, I went from town to town hunting and slaying Yoma. The whole time I went against Rubel's advice and searched for a way to escape from the Organization. A month ago, I met a man who could travel between worlds and with the help of a close friend, now sister, we managed to fake my death. After that, the man sent me here to Remnant and I arrived in the forever fall forest. Forever free to live my life how I want."

Blake reached over the table and placed her hand atop of the young Claymore's own hand. "You lived through a long harsh life after you lost your parents," she said sympathetically. "No one should ever go through something like that. We are glad the Organization can't reach you here." The rest of team RWBY and Aaron nodded in agreement.

"So now what're your plans for the future?" Aaron asked.

The young Claymore thought about it for a moment. "Well, I might as well become a Huntress. It's best to put the training I went through to good use. Maybe after that, fulfill the dream most other Claymore's long for."

"And what is that?" Weiss curiously asked.

Elena heavily blushed while tapping her two index fingers together. "Starting a family and raising my future children."

"Oh," Weiss said with a surprised look on her face.

"And if possible, return to my home-world and start up some sort of huntsman academy to stop the cruelty of the Organization."

"If that ever happens. We will help you every step of the way." Ruby said with confidence.

"As Blake said, No one should ever go through something like you had experienced," Aaron affirmed. "You will have my support, along with Nalia's as well."

A small tear fell from one of Elena's silver eyes. "Thanks, guys."

**[...]**

Aaron, Elena, and the girls of team RWBY talked for another hour before they went their separate ways. Elena left to train with her adoptive mother while team RWBY minus Ruby walked to their room, leaving Ruby and Aaron on their own. As they headed back to the warehouse, the older Rider was putting together a possible training regimen with Nalia. _Combat shouldn't be an issue since that's the main point of this school. We'll have to work from the ground up with magic though. Where and when should we begin with that?_

_This is a problem, _Nalia replied. _She doesn't know any of the ancient language and I doubt she would go along with that education for long without some purpose. _The green dragon fell silent for a second. _I believe her magic training should begin soon. As for what to start with, why not start with making a rock float? That's simple enough and it doesn't take too much energy._

_And it's trick number one after those crazy assignments. If I ever see that boulder again... _Aaron let the thought hang. _What about mental training? We can teach Ruby and Cerise how to defend their minds, but when it comes to attacking, we're not exactly experts._

_We know the principles and how it's supposed to work, we just aren't strong in that area. They will be fine. Ruby has already shown strength in stretching out her mind, it won't take much more to teach her to break in._

_That can be saved for last, though. We're the only other ones who can shield minds. Let's just hope it stays that way. _Aaron sighed. _We're not going to a good job, are we?_

_Compared to Masters Oromis and Glaedr, no. But even they needed to start somewhere. We'll work with what we've got and do the best we can._

The dragons' warehouse came into view and Aaron stopped in his tracks. _There are people doing something to the building._

Ruby cocked her head beside Aaron. "Motion sensors?"

Aaron looked at the other Rider. "Motion what?"

"Motion sensors. They, uh, track things that move in a certain way which in turn activates something. In this case, I'm guessing the doors so our dragons can come and go as they please."

Aaron looked back at the workers. _Did Ozpin plan this before or after we showed ourselves, _he thought to himself. He and Ruby entered the warehouse through the former staff door and once again was surprised. The stains on the floor had been removed and the lights on the ceiling were relit. _That man really wants me to like him, doesn't he?_

Soon after, Nalia landed outside and the door lifted on its own accord. Both dragon and Rider stared at it in surprise. It was weird enough only pushing a button and that happening, even more so with no interaction at all. Nalia hesitantly walked inside while Cerise ran up to Ruby and tackled her again. As soon as the larger dragon's tail cleared the doorway, the newly self-controlled door closed itself.

_The magic here is very strange, _Nalia commented to everyone in the room.

Ruby laughed as she crawled out from under her dragon. "There's no such thing as magic." She blinked her eyes a few times and the smile dropped from her face. She looked back and forth between the two dragons in the room. "Or is there?"

Aaron looked to Nalia who shook her head. "We'll get to that later," he said. "Right now, I'd like to clarify a few things from what you said earlier. First of all, was Cerise born with her spikes? They seem unusually short for being two weeks old."

Ruby shook her head. "Nope, they started sprouting on day three. Is that normal?"

"It's not uncommon. When dragons are born without their spikes, they tend to be more passive than others of their kind. Cerise is also a red dragon, which are generally more aggressive than others. It will be interesting to see how she matures.

"Second, while you were helping Cerise walk back to Beacon, you said you felt your energy leaving you at an extraordinary rate right?"

"Yeah, even when we were both on the ground barely moving. I just thought it was because Cerise was…" Ruby cut herself off and shuddered.

"You were right, to an extent. The energy drain you felt can work both ways, but it normally flows from dragon to Rider. Every bonded pair uses it on a daily basis for normal things. For example: the Rider can use his or her dragon's energy to boost his or her strength." Ruby's eyes brightened up.

"Also, the energy from one can be used to keep the other alive if severely injured. I'm not sure if you unintentionally sent the energy or if Cerise drew it from you, but either way is very dangerous. Too much energy could be sent or taken, threatening the life of the uninjured member of the pair."

Once again, Ruby's excitement was dashed. She looked down at Cerise who was already looking up at her. "Will she remember any of this?" she asked Aaron.

_Dragons have a nearly perfect memory, _Nalia answered. _She'll remember her own hatching over two hundred years from now._

Ruby snapped her head over to Nalia. "Two hundred _years?" _she yelled. How old can dragons get?"

_Assuming we're not brought low by blade, poison, or incurable disease, we can live indefinitely._

Ruby's eyebrows raised. "Wow, so she'll still be around when I'm long gone."

"Hopefully not," Aaron replied with a straight face. "The same applies to Riders."

The younger Rider's face lit up like the sun. "This is so cool! I could live to see the last Grimm be killed! I could walk on other planets like it's nothing! Oh, wait until the others find out!" Ruby's mirth vanished slowly over ten seconds as she realized what immortality entailed. "Oh."

Aaron nodded sympathetically. "Many people have a similar reaction. It sounds amazing, but then they remember the people they will leave behind. To make matters worse, our bodies almost stop physically aging when we reach twenty years of age. We'll look nearly the same age for centuries. I have never met a Rider who looked over fifty."

Ruby started shaking and stared at the floor. "So when Yang is old and dy… and in her last years of life, I won't look much older than I do now?"

The older Rider nodded. "Such is the burden of being a Rider. With age comes experience so we are undoubtedly the best warriors in the land, but we lose many friends along the way, and most if not all of our family. Many of the older Riders secluded themselves away from the rest of the Order, only offering advice to those who sought it, but I think they did it to prevent the heartbreak that is losing another friend."

Ruby was struggling to fight back tears, then threw her arms around Cerise. "At least I'll have you," she whispered.

"Protect her, Ruby. Without her, there aren't many reasons to continue." Aaron stood back and watched the younger pair comfort each other. Even Cerise was upset, but Aaron couldn't tell if it was her own emotion or Rub's spilling over. Eventually the older Rider left the warehouse to leave the pair alone.

Ruby kept her arms around Cerise' neck for several minutes. She was still trying to piece what Aaron said together. Immortality? Never aging? What was the point if most people she knew were going to die of old age? She opened her eyes she didn't know closed and stared down at her dragon's back.

_Cerise. _She was enough. Plus there was Aaron and Nalia, and there was the slim possibility of friendly Riders in Alagaësia that Aaron didn't know about.

Still, Ruby didn't want to just leave her friends or her sister. They had to know, sooner rather than later.

The young Rider let go of her dragon then looked up at Nalia. "Is there anything else Aaron wanted to go over?" she asked.

_Yes, but first I must ask something of you, _Nalia said. _Aaron must _not _know I told you about this. Do you understand? _Ruby simply nodded.

_Aaron is not as put together as he seems. He is broken in ways that are hard to explain. He will shatter, it's only a matter of time. I know it may be wrong of me to ask this, but will you help pick up the pieces when it happens?_

Ruby was taken aback. "What happened?"

_Without going into detail, he continually blames himself for many decisions he's made, even if they are justified. He's been like this since I hatched for him, just the masks he's worn have changed. He… does things to himself whenever he does something even remotely regrettable. No matter how much I try, I... I can't stop him short of pinning him to the ground._

_With this in mind, I'll ask again, will you help me look after my Rider. _Nalia looked down at Ruby with pleading eyes.

The young Rider legitimately thought this one over. If Nalia asked, it had to be important. Ruby knew regular people hardly asked for that kind of help. She didn't know how prideful dragons were, but she suspected more than the average human of Faunus. Also, she might be the only one around when it happens, and she's not one to just let someone stay at a low point.

Ruby nodded, her decision made. "I will help any way I can."

Nalia breathed a sigh of relief. _Thank you. Now, I believe you asked earlier about magic?_

**[...]**

**A/N: I hope you all enjoyed that new chapter. It was a bit of a struggle trying to come up with Elena's full backstory but I finally managed it.**

**Anyway many of you may have noticed the new cover art for the story, I will say this now that yes it's the scene from chapter nine involving Rosemary and Hunter Green. Also, the artwork is only going to be temporary until next month when the actual cover art is done. I can't wait to commission it.**

**One last thing, with this new chapter. This story finally reached over 100k words. I can't believe it happened so soon.**

**Well that's all I wanted to say. See you all next time.**

**BN: Looking forward to writing the rest of this as the writing and storytelling continues to improve, as well as adding new elements from different universes. Glad to see a story that has actually reached 100k words in just 20 chapters, as that's not something you see all that often… unless it's written by a handful of very specific authors.**


	21. Rider Training

**A/N: What's this? Another chapter so soon? Well we can thank my beta reader Pokeman1280 for that, as not much of the original chapter from his story could be changed or added onto for this chapter.**

**Anyway onto the story.**

**[...]**

_So, how do we start this?_ Aaron asked Nalia.

The green dragon thought it over for a moment. _Start with what magic is and how dangerous it can be. That's how it started with you, isn't it?_

_Might as well._ Aaron locked eyes with the younger Rider. "Ruby, real magic isn't like the kind you have here," Aaron told the younger Rider. "It's not card tricks or pulling a rabbit out of a hat, although admittedly, you could do that if you wanted. Real magic is much more complicated, and a lot more dangerous."

Ruby grunted. "Is there anything from where you're from that's not dangerous?"

Aaron smirked. "The air is much clearer in Alagaësia." He grew serious. "Now Ruby, you can only talk about what you are about to hear to a very select group of people. Right now, that includes Yang, Blake, Weiss and Elena, no one else. There could be serious consequences if news of this gets out, that can both directly and indirectly affect us and our dragons, not to mention the rest of Remnant."

"Whoa, that serious?" Aaron nodded. "Okay, then. I promise to keep everything between us."

"The first thing you need to know is that magic is tied to what we call the Ancient Language. To put it simply, speak something in it and put some energy into it, something will happen. For example," Aaron stuck his right hand out in front of him. "Brisingr!" a small flame burned to life in his hand.

Ruby nearly jumped a foot. "That's different." She put her left hand out in front of her and was about to speak the word when Aaron grabbed her wrist.

"Sorry, bad first example. That's a little too advanced for you right now," he said as he let go of her wrist. "Magic takes as much energy out of you as it would to do the same task by hand, well, when you get more experience with it anyway. Initially, it drains energy much faster. If you did what you were about to, you could have passed out in seconds." Ruby blinked rapidly then dropped her arm to her side.

"It can get much worse though. Some spells, in fact most spells, will drain your energy even when you lose consciousness. If too much is drained, the spell will kill you."

Ruby looked down at her feet, scolded. "So how do I get experience?"

Aaron sighed. "Starting with something easy." He took a rock out of his pocket and handed it to Ruby. "Concentrate on the rock and say 'Stenr reisa.'"

She nodded then concentrated on the small rock. "Stenr reisa," Ruby said calmly. The rock didn't even move. She said it again, with more confidence and force, and the rock still didn't move. The third time proved no better. "Am I even saying this right?" Frustration found its way into Ruby's voice.

"Nobody gets it right away," Aaron replied. "Keep at it. You'll get it eventually."

Ruby refocused on the rock and tried again several more times, more and more frustration evident in her voice. On the tenth time, she had enough and yelled, "Stenr reisa!" The rock shook and floated to a few inches above her hand. Her mouth dropped open and her eyes grew wide. After a few seconds, the rock dropped back into her hand. She wobbled unsteadily on her feet. Cerise ran over to her Rider to give her some support. "You weren't joking about the energy drain."

Aaron shook his head. "When it comes to magic, I don't joke. Even the slightest mispronunciation of a word can have disastrous results."

Ruby panted while leaning against Cerise. "Do I want to know what you mean by 'disastrous'?"

"Anything from misdirecting an attack to making a spell absolute, unable to end without completing its task or killing the caster. It's extremely hard to divert that one so dramatically though. That's why it's the one that every Rider learns first back on Vroengard."

"You said this will get easier with time, right?"

"Yes. It'll take more energy to walk up stairs than to make that rock float before you know it."

Ruby smiled through her panting. "So what else will I be able to do when I'm stronger?"

"The basics include healing almost any wounds, moving objects that are beyond your normal capability, and protecting yourself and others from many types of injury. Singing plants to life and shaping them comes later."

The younger Rider laughed. "I can already protect myself from injuries," Ruby paused and looked up at Aaron with an eyebrow raised. "Singing plants to life and shaping them? What's that supposed to mean?"

It was Aaron's turn to chuckle. "It's something that the elves came up with long ago. They sing to plants and put energy into the Ancient Language, and it grows and shapes plants. Under their care, a flower can grow full sized from a seed in a matter of minutes. Their buildings are just trees sung into whatever form is needed." He closed his eyes and tilted his head back. "Ah, if only you could see Ellesméra, the elven capital. You can see the history of the city as you move through, animals roam the streets," Aaron crinkled his nose, "and it doesn't have the stench of excrement that all human and dwarven cities have."

Ruby crinkled her own nose. "Excrement?"

"They don't have—what's it called here, indoor plumbing? Only nobility and the richest civilians can afford it."

The younger Rider shuddered. "Gross, I shouldn't have asked." She paused. "What about this Doru Araeba you mentioned earlier? What's that place like?"

Aaron's shoulders slumped. He regretted mentioning Doru Areaba before. He lost so many people there, and Nalia...

Thankfully Nalia stepped in. _We're getting off topic here, let's move on._ She cast a glance and Ruby before settling down again.

Aaron cleared his head and focused his attention back on his student. "Good idea. Now, there is more to the Ancient Language than just being able to use magic with it. When you speak in it, you can't lie, and you can't break any oaths you make, whether accidental or intentional. That's how Cerise knew I wouldn't hurt her yesterday."

Ruby looked down at her dragon who hummed and nodded in response. "How could she know it? We've never even heard of it before now."

"Well, I'm sure she doesn't _know_ it, but everyone can understand the basic meaning behind what is said. If it's directed, the meaning becomes clearer. There's a reason behind it, but the explanation is beyond me."

"So, I take it you want me to promise in the Ancient Language that I won't tell anybody about this except those you approve of?"

Aaron fervently shook his head. "Any other Rider would say yes, but I'm saying no. Forcing people to take them is too much like taking away free will. I will give oaths, but I never force people to say them."

Ruby nodded thoughtfully. She looked down at Cerise and it appeared they were having a conversation. Aaron stood silent and let them have it. After a few seconds Ruby nodded and looked back up at Aaron. "What are the words?" she asked.

"Um, to what?" Aaron cocked his head in confusion.

"What are the words to say that I won't speak of this except with you and my team?"

Both Aaron and Nalia stared at Ruby in shock. _Are you sure? _Nalia asked.

"There's no going back after it's said."

Ruby shrugged. "Better safe than sorry so something doesn't slip."

Aaron sighed. He didn't know why Ruby would make an unbreakable oath so freely, but if she wanted to, he wouldn't stop her. Over the next ten minutes, the older Rider coached the younger on how each of the individual words are pronounced and what they mean. After Aaron coached Ruby on the order, he gave her one last chance to back down. Instead, she went along and said the oath with confidence.

"Should I feel any different?" Ruby asked after she finished.

"No, most oaths are just that. You won't notice it unless you try and go against it. You physically won't be able to."

Aaron decided it was time to move on. It was best not to overwhelm Ruby with specifics just yet. "The last major part of magic is literally all in the head, and I believe you have some rather unintentional experience with this."

Ruby rubbed the back of her head. "Yeah, it kind of scared me when the rest of the team felt my emotions."

Aaron nodded. "That is common for human Riders. Just be glad the first time it happened you sent out happiness and not rage or depression. The consequences of both are terrible in their own ways.

"Anyway, there are three new things you can do with your mind now: communication, defense, and attack. The communication part is what you've done, sending your thoughts and emotions outside of yourself to someone else. I don't know if you've noticed, but you can also touch the minds of animals and plants as well as humans and Faunus."

"Wait, minds of plants? I may not be the best at biology, but I'm pretty sure plants don't have brains."

"Sorry, I misspoke. I meant the presence and energy of plants. Again, it's amazing to stretch your mind out in Ellesméra to feel all the life around you." Aaron paused for a second. "Actually, the Menoa tree, the only known tree with a noticeable consciousness is just outside the city, but that's a story for another time.

"The next two deal with mental combat. Riders, dragons, some creatures, and most other magic users can attack other minds. It's not pleasant, or so I've been told. Nalia and I have very defensive minds. No one has ever broken past our defenses, combined or not. On the attack though, if our opponent has even the slightest defenses, we can't break in."

"Wait, you _can't_ do something?" Ruby chuckled. "I guess you aren't all powerful after all."

"Everyone's got their strengths and weaknesses," Aaron agreed. "Now, the basic way to start your defense is to picture something in your mind and concentrate on that above all else. With enough practice, you will be able keep your defense up at all times. In a battle situation with other hostile magicians in the area, it will be needed. If you have to choose between attacking and defending, choose defense."

"So, all I need to do is concentrate on something hard enough and it will defend my mind?" Ruby asked.

Aaron nodded. "That's all your opponent will be able to see."

Ruby closed her eyes for a few seconds, then nodded. "Try it."

The older Rider sent out his mind to attack Ruby's. As expected, his attack was repelled. All he saw was an image of a woman in a cloak similar to Ruby's, though it was white. Aaron turned his eyes to Nalia and she nodded. She raised her tail high off the ground and slammed it back into the floor. Ruby yelped, but the strength of her defense never faltered.

Aaron pulled back into his own mind. "Well done, Ruby. The tail smash typically catches rookies by surprise."

Ruby shrugged. "I've had a lot of practice in dealing with distractions."

"Yang?"

"Yep, I've paid her back on multiple occasions though."

Aaron smiled. He wondered if that's how his younger sister and he would have acted around each other, then he banished the thought from his head. "Attacking someone's mind is a little more difficult. It starts out similar to communication, as you stretch out your mind to your opponent. Instead of just sending thoughts or emotions though, you concentrate your thoughts into a single point and drive it into your opponent's defense. Or, that's how I believe it's supposed to go."

Ruby nodded and stood in an offensive stance. "You ready?"

Aaron threw up his mental defenses and nodded. Almost immediately he felt something hit the wall in his head. It started out trying to push its way in everywhere at once. It pulled back, then smashed in at one point with surprising force. Again, the attack stopped, and again it narrowed its attack. The older Rider smiled. "Are you sure you've never done this before?"

Immediately after he asked, his legs were knocked out from under him. Aaron saw Nalia's tail fly past his line of sight. He fell flat on his back and the wind was knocked out of him. The attack on Aaron's mind resumed, but it still didn't gain any ground.

Nalia laughed at the sight of her Rider on the ground. "Yes, very funny," Aaron growled, "and no, that didn't do a thing."

Ruby sighed in the middle of laughing. "Ah well, it was worth a shot." She looked over at Nalia and thrust a fist in her direction with a thumb up.

Aaron stood up and brushed his jacket off. _So, what now?_ he asked Nalia.

_Well, we taught her all we wanted for the basics,_ Nalia responded. _Still, I don't think she's ready to go onto more advanced magic yet. Her body won't be able to handle it._

_Break until after lunch, then see what she can do in physical combat?_

The green dragon nodded. _I would like to see how the people here fight._

Aaron nodded himself. "Okay Ruby, we've gone through all we've wanted to for this morning. How about we break until after lunch, unless you have any questions."

"I have a few," Ruby said. "Through the whole time you've been here, you've never mentioned Aura. Do you," she hesitated, "know what it is?"

Aaron thought back over his two years of training before answering. "I've never heard of it before."

Ruby's eyes brightened. "Well, from what you've said, magic is similar to Aura in a few ways. For one, it shields us from attacks, whether it's from a Grimm attack, a sword or bullets. If something gets through, Aura can heal us faster. Some people can directly use their Aura for attack, like Ren from team JNPR, as well as Blake's little brother Jad, from what he's shown me.

"Everyone that has their Aura unlocked has a Semblance. For me, it's speed!" Ruby vanished in a flash of red and rose petals. Aaron followed the trail with his eyes and saw her waving at the far end of the warehouse. She ran off again and nearly blew the older Rider off his feet. "I don't know where the rose petals come from though. All I know is it runs in the family. It happens for my mom and grandma when they used their semblances. It doesn't happen for Yang though."

Aaron turned around and saw Ruby smiling up at him. He whistled. "You are fast. You might be able to beat Nalia in a race."

Nalia snorted smoke from her nostrils. _Don't count on it._

"I can't keep it up long distances yet. I can run a lot farther than I used to though."

"What about yesterday when you ran to Cerise?"

Ruby hesitated. "I did run all the way didn't I?" she mumbled to herself. "I think it was fueled by fear, though. I can tell just from that quick run that I can't do it now."

Aaron nodded, intrigued. "How do I get it and use it?"

"Everybody has Aura in them. I think Pyrrha describes it as 'the manifestation of our souls,' or something along those lines. After you unlock it, it will start defending you and healing your injuries, but you will need to discover your Semblance on your own."

"I'm going to have to look into this. Is there anything else you wanted to know?"

The smile left Ruby's face as she rubbed the back of her neck. "Is it possible to extend the life of someone who isn't a Rider?"

Aaron sighed. He knew this was coming. From what he heard, it always did. "It is possible to extend another's life, but not make them immortal." Ruby's eyes brightened for a second. "I know why you're asking, I'm sorry to say though all know ways of doing it can't change how the mind ages. If it's not engaged enough, the brain will rot like any other elderly person. Even if they are continually involved in something, the deterioration starts at about two-hundred-and-fifty years of age."

"Still, that adds about a hundred and fifty they didn't have otherwise." She paused. "You said you were trying to get eggs to hatch when you were away from…when the Fall happened. Do you have any more eggs with you?"

Neither Aaron nor Nalia spoke. _Should we tell her?_ Aaron asked his dragon.

_I feel lying to her will come back to clip our wings._ The green dragon turned her head to Ruby. _We have two other eggs with us Ruby. Both are eager to find their Riders, but that does not mean they will choose any of your teammates._

"Have there ever been Riders that are related?" Ruby blurted out.

Nalia sighed. _Yes, there have been several, but the number is few and far in-between. Dragons choose their Riders based on their personality and beliefs. Relations mean nothing._ Aaron raised an eyebrow at his dragon but made no comment.

Ruby's shoulders slumped. "So you're saying it's almost impossible for the eggs to hatch for anyone on my team?"

"The odds aren't in their favor," Aaron began, "but it's not impossible."

Ruby nodded sadly. "Well, I suppose I should be getting back to the others now." She rubbed underneath Cerise' chin before walking to the door.

"I'll see you at lunch," Aaron called. Ruby nodded absentmindedly and left the building. Aaron looked up at Nalia. _You left out a crucial detail in there,_ he thought at her.

The green dragon's wings drooped. _I didn't want to get her hopes up._

Aaron nodded and looked to the floor. "Am I going too fast with this?"

_Probably, but when was the last time we even saw our masters?_

"You have a point. I just hope Ruby can take all of this."

* * *

Ruby walked slowly across Beacon to her dorm room. She tried to process everything she just learned. On the positive side, she could use magic, she was now telepathic, and she was immortal.

The young Rider shuddered at that last thought. She had the next seventy years with her team, if she didn't extend their lives with magic. After that, it would just be her and Cerise. Ruby was terrified of never aging while everyone grew old around her. What was the point of living forever if she would just end up alone? There was no telling how many people she would lose in her long life.

Ruby felt Cerise' mind press against hers. _Not alone,_ the young dragon said. _You have me._

_Thanks, _Ruby sent back, _but people need more than one other person to survive._

_Aaron? Nalia?_

Ruby hesitated in her steps. _I don't know. They seem nice, but they could find a way to get back to Alagaësia and never come back. And did you hear Nalia? Aaron's unstable. He could break at any time._

Cerise took her time in responding. _Don't…fear…Focus now, not then._

…_Thanks Cerise._ Ruby didn't even realize she walked all the way to her residence hall. Luckily very few people were in the halls and even fewer looked her way. She couldn't take the attention at the moment, not with those evil thoughts in her head.

Ruby entered her to find a scene much different to how she was feeling. Yang was laughing at a joke, knowing the other two in the room, she most likely told. "Hey, Rubes, what took you so long?" Yang asked with a smile on her face. The smile didn't last long though. "Ruby, something wrong?"

"No," Ruby said quickly, then hesitated. "Yes. It was just one thing Aaron and Nalia said."

Weiss looked at her partner with a shocked expression. "Since when can 'one thing' get you down like this?"

"There had to be some positive things he said for you to be gone for so long."

Ruby smiled half-heartedly as she sat down on Weiss' bed. "There was plenty of that." She took the rock Aaron gave her out of her pocket. She concentrated on the rock and dug into the part of herself that she found contained at least one of her new abilities. "Stenr reisa." The rock obediently floated a few inches above her hand.

The three other girls stared at the hovering rock in disbelief. "That's new," Blake gasped.

"What are you now, some type of magician?" Yang asked. Ruby couldn't tell if it was a serious question.

The rock fell back into Ruby's hand. "Aaron says it's magic, so yeah."

"Magic?" Weiss scoffed.

Ruby rolled her eyes at the heiress. "Did you believe that dragons existed before Cerise hatched? How else would you explain this?"

Weiss hesitated, then shook her head. "I don't know what to think anymore."

"What else can you do?" Yang asked, genuine interest in her voice.

"With magic, right now just that. Aaron says I'll be able to do just about anything when I get better with it. He mentioned things like healing severe injuries on the spot and altering the way plants grow. Oh, and he produced a fireball in his hand like it was nothing."

"The fire, I get," Yang said, "but the plants? Since when do you want to be a gardener?"

"I don't really, but apparently back in Alagaësia, the elves have altered the way trees grow to live in them. A literal tree house. Aaron says entire cities are built like that."

Weiss perked up at that last bit. "A city of trees? That seems like an interesting place to visit someday."

"In addition to magic," Ruby continued, "they taught me the basics of how to control my mind for offense and defense. The communication part I already had down."

"Geez, Ruby, you're turning into one of those super heroes from the movies!" Yang exclaimed. "Could you show us? Somehow?"

Ruby smirked and stretched out her mind. Without opening her mouth, she said, _Sure._ The looks on her friend's faces said that the trick worked. _Silent communication. This could be useful if we ever have to sneak around._

"Could you…track people like this?" Blake asked hesitantly.

"I don't see why not," Ruby spoke. "I think there are a few more ways to use and fine tune that technique, but Aaron hasn't taught me yet."

"Anything else cool you have up your sleeve?" Yang asked.

Ruby took a few seconds to think it over. They didn't need to know the specifics of the Ancient Language, not yet anyway. She didn't have any way to prove it either. That just left…the one thing. The young Rider sighed and looked down at her lap. "Aaron and Nalia said that dragons are immortal… and so are their Riders."

No one in the room breathed for a few seconds, then Yang nearly jumped up from her position on Blake's bed. "What's wrong with that? With that amount of time, there's no way you won't be the best Huntress on Remnant in that time! Who knows? You could live on the moon someday!"

Ruby looked up at her sister, fighting to hold back tears. Yang's smile quickly evaporated. "If that does happen, none of you will be here to see it."

The mood in the room tanked. No one knew what to say. They all knew Ruby was right. "It's not just time that's the problem. Aaron says my body will almost stop aging when I'm twenty. So when you're all in your seventies, I'll barely look older than I do now." She choked on her next words. "I'm going to be alone, for a very, very long time."

Yang launched herself between the beds and pulled Ruby into a tight hug, but not one of her choking ones. "Don't say things like that Ruby!" she ordered. Ruby returned the hug and let the tears flow free. "I'm not leaving any time soon."

"I know this sounds cold," Blake said, "but everybody loses people, and it never gets easier. Even in the worst of times, though, there will be someone to pick you up."

"Ruby, we'll still be around for a long time," Weiss comforted. "None of us are going anywhere. It's not like you'll be alone when we're gone anyway. You'll have Cerise, and I'm sure Aaron and Nalia will stick around."

Cerise' mind pressed up against her Rider's again. _Never alone._

"Listen to Cerise, Ruby," Yang whispered, apparently hearing the dragon's words. "Even though we won't be standing by your side, we'll always be with you. You know that. I'm _never_ leaving you."

The room stayed silent for several minutes, and Ruby and Yang stayed in each other's arms. Eventually Ruby composed herself and pulled away from her sister. "There are a couple ways around this, at least temporarily," she said.

"I'm all ears," Yang said.

"Aaron said it is possible to extend the life of people who aren't bonded to a dragon, not aging included. On the down side, he said 'brain rot' would come when you get to be two-hundred-and-fifty. I'm guessing he meant something along the lines of dementia."

Ruby paused for a second. "He also has two other eggs with him."

The other girls perked up. "So, a dragon could hatch for us?" Weiss asked.

Yang whistled. "That would be something," she said. "Dragon Rider sisters. The Grimm better watch out."

"I think you two are missing something," Blake cut in. "There are only two eggs, and there's three of us."

"There is that," Ruby sighed. "Also, the dragons choose their Riders, not the other way around. Blood relations don't matter."

"But is it possible?" Yang insisted.

Ruby nodded. "It is, but it's rare."

Yang hesitated. "When's the next time you two are meeting?"

"After lunch, why?"

"I'm going with you." Ruby blinked rapidly and was about to protest when Yang cut her off. "Ruby, if there's even the slightest possibility of one of those eggs hatching for me, I'll take it."

"I'm with Yang on this one," Weiss said. "From just the little time I've been around Cerise and Nalia, I can tell they're intelligent and powerful, but also caring. I wouldn't mind spending a lot of time with one."

Ruby looked over at Blake who simply shrugged. "It couldn't hurt. I don't know if a Faunus could be a Rider though if there were none where Aaron and Nalia are from."

"Thanks, guys." Ruby sighed. She didn't know if any of them would be lucky enough to have an egg hatch for them, but at least there was the chance.

Yang scoffed, and Ruby looked up at her sister confused. "Thanks? Who said I was doing this for you? I just want a dragon of my own." For that, Yang received a pillow to the face.

**[...]**

**A/N: I know this one is a bit of a filler chapter, but the interesting stuff will happen in the next chapter.**

**Also since I have gotten some reviews from the last chapter I'll be answering questions and or comments after every new chapter.**

**Turaga Vakama: I'm sorry that I accidentally made you think that. It wasn't my intention to do so. But I will say this now, the Reds and Blues will arrive on Remnant in a few chapters.**

**ErrorSans13: Thank you! Seeing this helps keep me motivated and continue writing this story.**

**Well that's all I wanted to say. See you all next time!**


	22. Legends and Experience

**A/N: It's Finally Here! The cover art for this story is Finally here. Please tell me what everyone thinks of it. Full credit goes to Manu-chann for making this possible. You can find both the title version and the normal version on my Deviantart account.**

**Also, recently I had bought the movie Call of the Wild and there was a part that reminded me of the place I made up for where Elena grew up. It's a great movie and I highly recommend everyone go watch it. **

**Now onto the story!**

**[...]**

Team Rwby slowly made their way to the cafeteria. Ruby regained much of her previous composure thanks to her friends and Cerise. Just because she was cracked on the inside didn't mean people would be able to see it on the outside.

A small high pitched roar made its way across the courtyard. Students were running away from one point on the far side. Soon enough, Ruby saw Cerise sprinting across the courtyard at her. Only a few seconds later the red dragon tackled her Rider to the ground. Both of them were laughing in their own ways. "Is this going to be a regular thing with you?" Ruby asked.

_Yes,_ Cerise replied while backing off Ruby. _Fun._

"Can't argue with that." Ruby stood and dusted herself off. She caught a glimpse of Weiss rolling her eyes, yet at the same time trying to hold back a smile.

"Awww, They're so cute together!" The young Rider turned around and saw team JNPR walking up to her. Nora looked like she was about to pounce on Cerise while Ren was ready to hold her back if needed. Jaune wore that oblivious smile he always had around Beacon, and Pyrrha walked with her usual air of confidence. In other words, just a normal day for the team.

"Um, thanks?" Cerise made a noise her Rider couldn't place and moved behind Ruby as if to hide. Ruby put a hand on her dragon's head. "They're friends, Cerise, just like team SPHR and Elena," she comforted.

"So Ruby, when were you going to tell us you had a dragon?" Jaune asked. He didn't sound offended or angry, just curious.

"Well, if all went according to plan…" Ruby thought it over. When _did_ she want to introduce Cerise to the world? And why didn't she tell JNPR? _Nora, right._ She decided to go with something that seemed remotely sane. "...I would have ridden Cerise into the main courtyard when she was big enough to carry me. Looking back thorough, that seems like a bad idea."

"Why even hide her in the first place?" Pyrrha asked.

"She's shy, she didn't even like Yang for a while and due to a special legend, we feared she might be hunted down and killed. When we had to go into town the day after she hatched, we made Elena and team SPHR swear to secrecy or Yang would use them as a punching bag until graduation."

Cerise turned her head and glared at Yang.

Yang shrunk down a little and rubbed the back of her neck. "I said I was sorry," she said, raising and shaking her hands in surrender. Cerise snorted a puff of smoke in her direction, then let out a dragon's chuckle. Yang let out a sigh. "Looks like we're fine now, although I doubt she's gonna let me forget it." She raised a hand and began to scratch behind one of the dragon's ears.

"Can she breath fire?" Nora blurted out.

Ruby shook her head. "I don't think so yet, but I've never seen the smoke before, so it could be soon."

_Not quite,_ a voice spoke in Ruby's head. Jaune looked like he was about to panic, while the rest of his team looked around confused. The rest of team RWBY smirked at their friend's confusion. Ruby turned around and saw Nalia slowly making her way across the courtyard. _Dragons can puff smoke at quite an early age. Fire comes around six months of life. Cerise still has a long way to go._

Ruby slumped her shoulders, slightly disappointed. Jaune, meanwhile, took a step back. "Y-You can talk?" he stuttered.

Nalia snorted. _Not like you know it, but yes, I can._

The young Rider looked back up at the green dragon. "Weren't you going to take Cerise out hunting again?"

_No!_ Cerise said excitedly. _You, Aaron, fight!_

Ruby looked at her dragon, confused. "Um, what?"

_Aaron wants to see how you fight, _Nalia replied. _You know the basics of everything else, now he needs to know how competent you are in battle._

Ruby smiled. "Of course! I've been wondering the same about him!" She took her Scroll and started searching for times sparring arenas around Beacon were available.

"That could get interesting," Weiss said. "Both Aaron and Elena most likely have a style that has never before been seen around here. Just seeing one of them fight against Ruby's… unique style could make an impressive fight."

"Mind if we all tag along?" Yang asked for everyone.

Nalia turned her head slightly to the side and her eyes unfocused slightly, probably talking with Aaron. After a few seconds she refocused on the group in front of her. _We see no problem with having an audience. Elena and team SPHR had just asked Aaron the same thing. You are all welcome if you want to come._

"There's an outdoor sparring arena open in an hour on the other side of the dorms," Ruby announced. She tapped a button on her Scroll and booked the arena. "Now it's ours. That should leave us with enough time to eat."

"Mind if we join you?" Jaune asked, warily eyeing Nalia.

"Of course not. I'm sure Aaron would love to meet you guys. He doesn't really know anyone here besides Elena and us anyway." With that, the two teams and dragons walked together to the cafeteria. The conversation turned to the final exams they all had. They all hated that professor Port had a few questions on his various exaggerated adventures, and that Doctor Oobleck had a strict time limit which made answering at last two questions per minute mandatory.

Many people along the way stared at the dragons walking across campus. Cerise positioned herself between Ruby and Nalia as if they provided some protection. Ruby placed a comforting hand on her dragon's shoulder. _Cerise, what's wrong?_

_People, stares, no like, _Cerise whined.

Ruby sighed. _They're just curious. They've never seen a dragon before._

_Weapons. Scared... _Cerise looked over at Yang, _...they like Yang._

Ruby gasped. Weiss looked over at her teammate, but Ruby shrugged her off. Ruby wondered how she could miss her dragon's fear of people. _Cerise, no one here will attack you, _Ruby comforted. _They have no reason to and they would get into trouble if they do. Anyway, they would be stupid to attack when you're surrounded by two of the three best first year teams and another dragon that can take down Deathstalkers like they're nothing. _Cerise nodded, but still focused on the ground directly in front of her.

The group arrived at the Cafeteria and met Aaron, Elena, and team SPHR outside. Surprisingly, Elena was trying to get rid of a bunch of small twigs and leaves that were stuck in her hair, with some help from Petra. At the same time, the older Rider apologized to team JNPR for his shortness with them the day before. "I had a long day yesterday," he said. "I just wanted to be alone and clear my thoughts."

Everyone who could fit through the doors entered the cafeteria and started talking. Aaron explained to SPHR and JNPR the basics of where he was from and what a dragon Rider is, while leaving out his personal backstory. He also told them of the Fall and how he ended up on Remnant, leaving out any mention of magic. Ruby listened intently to see if she missed anything before, but she learned nothing new.

After Aaron finished, Elena explained to the two teams the basics of what a Claymore was, where she was from, while leaving out her own backstory. She also explained why she ended up on Remnant, while leaving out the full truth of how she got there to herself.

"Oh! Can you show us what you can do?" Nora asked Elena.

Elena thought about it for a moment before giving the bubbly orange-haired girl a smile. "I don't think it wouldn't hurt showing ten percent."

"Ten percent?" everyone asked, a bit confused.

"Just watch my eyes and you will see," she explained. Elena took a deep breath and let ten percent of the Yoki in her body release. As it happened, her silver eyes changed to golden and the pupils became slits. SPHR, JNPR, Weiss and Aaron nearly jumped from seeing those familiar golden eyes. Aaron even momentarily went for his sword before physically stopping himself. Elena stopped the Yoki flow in her body, causing her eyes to become their normal silver color again.

"Judging from your reactions, the last time you saw eyes like those, it wasn't a pleasant experience," she sighed.

"No it wasn't," Petra said. "Hunter here almost got himself eaten alive."

"That was the second life and death situation I found myself in this year." Hunter mumbled to himself.

"But why does your eyes change to that scary golden color?" Weiss asked.

"It's because she has Yoki running through her body," Ruby casually said.

Weiss snapped her head towards her team leader so fast that Ruby momentarily thought she was about to break her neck. "Say what!" she exclaimed.

"Ruby's right," Elena calmly said. "Mom said she would go further into detail about it next semester." It was at that moment Elena's Scroll began to ring. She pulled it out to check the caller I.D. and suddenly her face paled in fear.

"What's wrong Elena?" Rona asked.

"I'm in trouble. Mom is calling," she explained before getting up from the table and answering her Scroll. In the background Ruby could hear Teresa scolding the young Claymore.

Moments later Elena walked back to the table and sat down with her head in her hands.

"What's wrong Elena?" Aaron asked.

"Mom just scolded me for recklessly releasing my Yoki on school grounds."

"How did she know that? You never said a thing while you answered your Scroll." Aaron said, a bit bewildered.

"Teresa has the ability to sense any amount of Yoki at long distances," Yang explained. "It wouldn't surprise me that if any bit was released anywhere on Beacon, she would know about it."

Aaron gave Yang a surprised look. "Is there anything else that she can do?" he asked.

"In terms of comparison, even if I were to release one hundred percent of the Yoki in my body. Do not ever ask me to do so. I will refuse to do so on the spot." There was a slight bit of fear in the young Claymore's voice when she said that. "It wouldn't even come close to one percent of the Yoki she can control in her own body."

In that moment, a heavy state of silence fell upon the group. Everyone was too stunned to say anything.

A couple of minutes later, Elena broke the silence. "Anyway Aaron, mom wants me to spar with you on occasion. She said this is my punishment for what I just did."

"Very well," Aaron responded, "just ask beforehand. I might be busy with some other stuff on occasion though."

"I was wondering if you can answer a couple of things for me Aaron," Pyrrha said. "If the Dragon Riders were among the best warriors in Alagaësia, how could so few take down so many? And what is this legend involving Cerise and Nalia?"

All eyes turned to the older Rider. That question had been in the back of Ruby's mind as well. Aaron sighed. "Superior tactics, ambushes, and trickery. Those the Traitor recruited were masters of the blade. We didn't stand a chance." He shook his head. "As for the second question, I was wondering about that myself. Care to answer for us Blake?"

Blake just sighed. "Might as well, but before I say anything, you should know that the last time I told this legend I had left out some large details."

"Why didn't you tell us?" Weiss asked.

"My parents made me promise only to tell the public part of the Dragon Faunus Legend and only tell the person I marry and my future children the rest unless certain things happen. Like Aaron and Nalia's arrival and Cerise's hatching," Blake explained. "Because Nalia and Cerise match key details that I have yet to say and something Elena said the other day allows me to say the full legend."

Everyone leaned in closer not to miss anything. Blake took a deep breath and explained the first half of the legend to the group. "Then on her deathbed, she had one last vision that foretold the arrival of the next Dragon Faunus. There would be five signs to look out for. A sisterhood of silver warriors. A cyan metal giant with a heart of fire fighting a titan of darkness. Four dragons of light, one whose scales matched a beautiful crimson rose. Another whose scales beautifully glowed like the sun. The third dragon has scales that match the color of moss on a tree. The final dragon, the oldest and fastest, scales are a deep forest green. Next is the soldiers of Red and Blue, each one having a different color armor. And finally the nine mercenaries of RED, each one named after the job that they perform. To protect the ones they love, the Dragon Faunus shall rise" she said, finishing the full and complete legend.

Ruby quickly noticed the grin that formed on Elena's face and the shocked looks on both Shade and Hunter's faces. She turned her head and saw that Aaron had turned his head towards where Nalia and Cerise were. Most likely the two were having a silent conversation.

"Um Blake? Do you know how big the Titan of Darkness is?" Shade asked.

"From what I was told, it should be twice the size of a Leviathan Grimm."

The color on the faces of most of the group drained away. "For those who are not native to Remnant. Can someone please explain what a Leviathan is?" Elena asked.

"A Leviathan Grimm is one of the biggest Grimm out there," Weiss began to explain. "They are a sea based Grimm that can walk right out of the ocean and cause some major damage. The average height of a Leviathan can go between one hundred fifty to one hundred sixty feet tall. If this Titan of Darkness is just a Grimm then on its own could easily cause a category nine Grimm attack all on its own."

Shade and Hunter quickly looked at each other. "You thinking what I'm thinking?" Hunter asked.

"Category four, has to be or worse a Category five." Shade responded.

"Hand-to-hand or staves this time?"

"Both."

"What are you two on about?" Weiss retorted, glaring at the two pilots.

"Nothing, it's nothing." Hunter said sheepishly.

"I swear I'm going to find out whatever it is the both of you are hiding."

"Anyway there is something I want to confirm," Elena said. "Blake you said the warriors of silver are a sisterhood right?"

Blake simply nodded.

"Then I was right," Elena said gleefully. "That part of the legend talks about us Claymores."

"Wait? How can you know that?" Petra asked.

"That's because all Claymores are women," Elena stated. "No men could survive the transformation without disastrous results."

"How disastrous?" Aaron asked.

Elena just shook her head. "I'm not gonna say. I'm already in trouble with mom and she told me to not tell that part until her lesson next semester."

Aaron turned his head slightly towards Nalia again. After a few moments he focused his attention back to the group. "Is there anything else about this legend we should know of, Blake?" he asked.

"Nope. That is all the details I know. The only person who knows more is the previous Dragon Faunus."

Aaron simply nodded. "Well, I would like to know something else. What exactly is there to do around here except attend school and eat?"

"Well, if you're a cultured sort of person," Weiss answered immediately, "the theater scene in Vale is one of the best in the world. I don't know if you've been down Main Street in your time here, but it is home to some of the most revered theaters anywhere. Not even the Orphway in Mistral can compare."

Aaron nodded. "I don't think there's a Rider who doesn't have respect for the fine arts."

"Uh, Weiss," Yang said, "the VMC is on third."

"I'm not talking about a movie theater, you airhead!"

Yang laughed. "Anyway, I'm sure you both have seen by now that we have moving pictures by now right? Well, movie theaters play what we call 'movies,' which has the same principle of the theaters I'm sure you're used to, but not live, and can be so much more exciting."

"I don't know, I've seen some exciting dramas in Ileria," Aaron responded.

The blonde smirked. "Have there been explosions on stage? Major battles between thousands of people? Spaceships?"

Both Aaron and Elena raised an eyebrow. "Spaceships?"

Yang's smirk turned into a full blown smile. "Well, looks like I'll have to introduce you both to Galaxy Wars at some point."

"Originals first, sis," Ruby chipped in.

"Is there any other way?"

Jaune let out an exasperated sigh. "What is everyone's problem with Bar Bar?" Everyone at the table looked at him with concern, except Weiss who grimaced and both Aaron and Elena who didn't know who Bar Bar Jinks was. "What?"

"Anyway," Ruby began to change the topic, "there's Forest View on the other side of the city. It's one of the largest amusement parks in the world, and it has thirteen roller coasters."

Nora perked up and turned to Ren. "I know what we're doing tomorrow! We haven't been there in ages!"

"Hey Shade?" Hunter quickly asked.

"Already on it," Shade responded as he pulled out his scroll. "Looks like tickets are on sale as well. Rona, Petra, do you two want to go as well?"

A smile formed on both of the female members of team SPHR. "You should have asked us sooner," Petra instantly replied.

"What's a roller coaster?" Aaron asked.

"You have to ride one to really know," Ruby responded.

"I'd assume it's about as close to riding a dragon as normal people can get," Rona added.

Aaron Raised his eyebrows at Rona. "Really? I'm really going to have to check that place out."

"Feel free to join us." Hunter said cheekily.

Ruby looked at the time on her Scroll. "We have about fifteen minutes to get to our sparring field."

"How long would it take for you to grab your weapons and make it to the site?" Aaron asked.

The younger Rider thought it over for a second then froze in place. "About fourteen." Ruby grabbed her food tray and ran to the dish return at a normal person's speed. She dumped the tray on the revolving return and made for the doors while the rest of the group was just standing up. As she left the building, Cerise ran alongside her. _I'll meet you at the arena_, the Rider thought to her dragon. She quickly thought over the map of the campus in her head. Before she could tell Cerise directions though, she turned and started walking in the direction of the arena. Ruby slowed down and watched her dragon walk off. _How did… What? Did I just show Cerise a map?_ She shrugged. It was entirely possible.

Ruby continued to her rocket locker and grabbed Crescent Rose from inside. She folded it up into the little box for carrying it discreetly. Aaron and Nalia would get a kick out of the reveal. Ruby quickly made her way to the arena to try and get there on time. She didn't like being late and she didn't know what Aaron thought on the subject.

She made it to the Arena just in time to not be late. Aaron was on the main floor while everyone else, including the dragons, stood on the sidelines. "Cutting it a little close, aren't you Ruby?" Aaron called as the younger Rider made her way into the arena. The older Rider looked over the younger. "Where's your weapon?"

Ruby smirked. "Right here." She pulled the compacted Crescent Rose out of its holster and pushed a button. The red and black sniper-scythe formed in her hand. She stuck the tip into the ground and smiled. "Aaron, this is Crescent Rose."

Aaron and Nalia gaped at the sight. "How is that possible? There's more material now than could possibly fit in that box!"

Ruby chuckled. "That's _my_ secret. I don't just give that away to anyone."

_You made that weapon yourself?_ Nalia asked, bewildered.

"Everyone here except Shade, Jaune, Hunter and Elena made their own weapons."

Aaron looked around with a shocked look on his face. "You are all weapon smiths?" All the Beacon students that made their weapons nodded. "Impressive. The Riders only ever had one sword-smith. At a time." The last part sounded like it was added as an afterthought.

"Well let's see your sword," Ruby encouraged. Aaron shrugged and drew his sword. Ruby gasped. She just thought the scabbard was meant to match Nalia's scales, not the blade itself.

Aaron smiled at the blade. "This is Redemption, one of the last swords ever made for the Riders. It's forged from Brightsteel, the metal of a fallen star. Like all Rider's swords, it is nearly indestructible."

Ruby stared at the blade from her position in the Arena. "If I'm guessing right on the metal used, it's strong, but not that strong."

The smirk disappeared from Aaron's face. "Special techniques are used to enhance the strength." Ruby took the hint and dropped the topic. He apparently still didn't want JNPR and SPHR to know about magic.

Aaron raised his sword into a defensive position. "Are you prepared?"

Ruby tugged on Crescent Rose and the point removed itself from the ground. "Are you?"

All remaining emotion drained from Aaron's face. "Then let us begin." He started circling around the arena watching Ruby carefully. Ruby decided to make the first move. She ran over to Aaron swinging Crescent Rose behind her. Aaron froze in place and rose Redemption. Ruby swung at her teacher, but he deflected it with surprising speed and strength. In the same motion, he twirled and elbowed Ruby in the face, or would have if her Aura allowed it. Still, Ruby reeled back. Before she could recover, she felt cold steel touch her neck. She froze in place, unwilling to move.

Aaron still wore the same emotionless face, which unnerved the younger Rider greatly. He lowered his sword after a few seconds. "I'm going to assume that you haven't warmed up and that was a careless mistake." He walked back to his original starting position while Ruby stood frozen in place.

Ruby looked over at those on the sidelines. Her teammates, JNPR and SPHR wore expressions of amazement. Elena looked like she was in a deep thought while carefully watching every detail of the spar. Cerise looked worried for her Rider. Nalia, by contrast, had the same expressionless mask as Aaron. After a few seconds Ruby made her way back to the starting position and prepared for another fight.

The two Riders circled each other, neither making a move toward the other. Eventually Aaron lunged at Ruby, who caught the slash on the rifle part of Crescent Rose, just on the other side of the scope from her fingers. Aaron drew back and slashed again, this time at her right shoulder. Ruby blocked again, but only just. The older Rider attacked repeatedly, forcing the younger to stay on the defensive. Aaron swung a particularly strong slash toward the back of the rifle section which knocked the weapon out of one of Ruby's hands. Again, Aaron pointed the tip of his sword at his student's neck.

"Better," Aaron said as he lowered Redemption. "You haven't faced many sword uses have you?"

"No," Ruby said. "How did you get so fast?"

"I've trained with elves. They are much _faster_ and stronger than any _normal_ person. I've even bested them on occasion." The emphasized words did not go over Ruby's head.

Both Aaron and Ruby returned to their starting locations. Ruby eyed her teacher carefully. If he was fast, she would have to be faster. She activated her Semblance and swung at Aaron. He blocked, but it was late and he was forced back a few steps. Ruby rushed again and slashed at Aaron's torso. He blocked and was forced back, but he managed to get a swing at Ruby's cape before she could run off again.

Ruby changed tactics slightly. Aaron was perfectly capable at blocking a single speed attack, but what about multiple at close range? The younger Rider charged at the older and slashed multiple times. Aaron blocked them all, but only just. Just when Ruby thought she was getting the upper hand, Aaron slashed at her arms. Instead of Ruby's Arua absorbing the damage, the blade slammed full force into her arms. She yelped, dropped Crescent Rose and fell to her knees. This time, Aaron didn't place Redemption anywhere near Ruby's neck.

"Your Aura didn't block that?" he asked, genuinely concerned.

"It prevented the cut but that's about it," Ruby moaned. She heard Aaron whisper a few words, but didn't recognize any of them. When he was finished, the pain disappeared. Ruby sighed in relief.

"I'll keep that in mind." He paused and bit his lip. "You ready to be done for now? I can understand after that hit."

Ruby shook her head. "No. One more round. There's one more thing I'd like to show off." Aaron nodded hesitantly. He walked back to his spot and looked up at Nalia. An unheard conversation passed between them. Ruby returned to her own spot and ticked the safety off on Crescent Rose.

Once more, the two Riders faced each other. Aaron charged, which was exactly what Ruby wanted. She pointed Crescent Rose straight down and fired. The two Alagaësians could just stare at the girl who just flew twenty feet in the air. Ruby landed and dug the scythe end into the ground and lined up a shot. Aaron figured out what was coming and moved to get out of the way. Ruby tracked him and fired.

It was a good thing she missed Aaron's center mass. The Dust round passed right through his shoulder.

Aaron screamed and fell to the ground, convulsing from the Lightning Dust. Nalia roared and jumped over to her Rider, stood over him and quickly covered him with one of her wings. Elena sprung into action and grabbed some bandages from a nearby emergency aid station in the arena. The young Claymore tried to aid the older Rider, but Nalia prevented her from getting close. The green dragon growled at the young Claymore, but Elena stood her ground. "Let me help." Nalia stared at the young silver-eyed warrior for a second before lifting a wing, allowing Elena to help tend to Aaron's injury. Those still standing on the sideline were frozen in place, trying to understand what just happened. Ruby was also frozen to the spot. She dropped Crescent Rose in shock.

Nalia turned on Ruby with rage in her eyes. _Why did you do that? _the green dragon demanded. _He bruises you and you try to remove his shoulder? What justice is that?_

"I... I didn't..." Ruby stammered.

The angry dragon growled. _You didn't think! That's the problem with all you two-legs, you don't think over your actions._

Cerise jumped in front of Ruby and growled back at Nalia. Ruby glanced back at the people on the sidelines. Those that had their weapons aimed them at the green dragon. Nalia growled at the students. "Guys, weapons down!" Ruby yelled. "Don't make this worse." All but Yang slowly lowered their weapons and Nalia returned her attention to Ruby.

Nalia looked like she was about to give Ruby another mental lashing when she snapped her head to the underside of the wing on the far side of her body. Instead of growls a few seconds ago, she hummed comfortingly. She stayed in that position for several minutes. Eventually the green dragon stood up and took a few steps back.

Aaron and Elena stood in her place. Aaron was rolling his shoulder out while Elena was wrapping up the bandage she had used on the previously injured Rider. "I liked that jacket," Aaron said as he picked the destroyed piece of clothing up off the ground. "Anyone know a good tailor around here?"

Ruby hesitated before she spoke. "I'm sorry! That usually doesn't happen. I thought your wards would be able to deflect that." She slapped a hand over her mouth as she realized what she just said. Aaron said she wouldn't physically be able to speak about their training with anyone but her team and Elena, even accidentally. When did he approve of both team JNPR and team SPHR? Only a few minutes before it sounded like he didn't. Then again, there wasn't a hole in his shoulder anymore.

The older Rider waved her off and walked in her direction. "I thought the same thing. There's no permanent damage, so no harm done."

"At least you didn't lose part of a limb like Elena did a few weeks ago or worse." Ruby responded, trying to lighten the mood a bit.

Aaron unconsciously turned to look at the young Claymore as she walked up to the two Riders. "You're joking right?" Aaron asked.

"No, what Ruby said is true." Elena said as she calmly looked over her left arm and hand. "The day before Ruby found Cerise' egg, I was in a serious fight against a Yoma that happened to disguise as a member of the White Fang. During the fight, some of the members of the White Fang shot at me and I had lost my left hand and part of the arm." She pointed where her arm previously severed. "Normally I would go and reattach the lost limb, but the severed limb had sustained so much damage that I had to regenerate what I was missing. It's not the worst injury I've ever had so I'm fine with it."

Aaron just stared at the young Claymore as she walked back to the group on the sidelines. "I doubt I'll ever fully understand the life she has lived." Ruby heard Aaron mumbled to himself before turning his attention back to the young Rider. "Ruby, what was that thing you shot at me?"

"A .50 caliber Lightning Dust round." Ruby grabbed Crescent Rose from the ground and removed the magazine. She took out one of the Dust rounds and handed it to Aaron. He turned it lover in his hand and looked over every minor detail. Aaron mumbled something under his breath, most likely in the Ancient Language.

"Nalia, help me remember:" he said, "normal wards don't protect against Dust rounds." Aaron blinked rapidly like he just had an epiphany. He looked back at Nalia with a strange look on his face. "Normal wards don't protect against Dust rounds." Nalia's expression changed from guilty and concerned to hopeful in the span of two seconds. Aaron smiled like he just won the Vytal Festival Tournament. He turned back to Ruby. "You may have just given us a chance at reclaiming Alagaësia."

**[...]**

Aaron walked back to the warehouse with team RWBY and Elena. Team SPHR took over the arena for some team training. Team JNPR made their excuses and left the group shortly after they exited the arena, with Jaune looking sick. Aaron stared at the Lightning Dust round in his hand. _This could be the key to taking down Galbatorix,_ he thought to Nalia. _The problem is how do we get enough back to Alagaësia._

_And getting close enough to use it, _Nalia said. _He will know we're coming from miles away, and will most likely attack us while behind the Forsworn, and the army he's built up._

_True, but we at least have a chance now. When we're ready, we'll go back. _Aaron returned his attention to the warehouse. Luckily no more additions had been added, at least none visible on the outside. He still wasn't sure if he trusted Ozpin or not. The man was too kind, too insightful. The only ones Aaron knew were genuinely like that adopted him seven years ago.

The group entered the warehouse and sealed the doors behind them. "You have a name for this place yet?" Yang asked.

"No, why?" Aaron asked.

"It's not exactly a warehouse anymore, and it isn't just another building."

Weiss rolled her eyes. "Does everything have to have its own name?" she asked. Aaron smirked. She had no idea.

"How about the Dragonhouse?" Ruby chipped in. "It's simple enough."

"It's too simple sis. Come on, you can do better."

"Actually," Aaron interrupted, "I think it fits. This is about the size of a typical dragon's house back home. There could be worse anyway."

"Besides, sometimes simplicity is all you need," Elena added.

Yang shrugged. "Whatever floats your boat."

The older Rider turned semi-serious. "Now, will someone tell me why you all insisted on coming here?"

"In all honesty, I just wanted to hang you with you guys," Elena said. "I got some free time so why not spend it with friends."

Ruby rubbed the back of her neck. "I told my team about the other eggs, and they were… curious.

"Wait what? There's more dragon eggs?" Elena asked, surprised.

"Did you now?" Aaron sighed. He saw this coming a league away. The thing he didn't know was if Ruby could take the probable rejection of her teammates and friend. "I'm going to tell you all what I was told the day I was first brought before the eggs in Tierm. Being a Dragon Rider isn't about adventure or glory. It's about protecting people, whether it's from war, crime, disease, or themselves. It's a lifetime commitment and responsibility, and I'm sure Ruby has filled most of you in on how long that life can be."

"When you put it like that, being a Rider is not too different from being a huntress," Blake said, "I don't really see the negatives."

"I agree with Blake," Weiss said. "If anything, the two can build off each other."

"I just want to get better and better," Yang said, but lacking some of her usual confidence. "Having a dragon by my side would help with that a lot." Her eyes flickered over to Ruby for a fraction of a second. Aaron knew there was more to Yang's reason, and he couldn't argue with it. Family is important no matter where you're from.

Aaron turned his attention to Elena, who just shrugged. "I guess it doesn't hurt to ask," she said.

Aaron nodded. "Then you all will be brought before the eggs." Nalia knelt down beside him and he removed the saddle bag that held the two eggs. He walked over to a, now clean, table height ledge hanging off the wall. Those that were not bonded to a dragon followed the older Rider, while Ruby, Cerise, and Nalia hung back. Aaron placed the eggs on the ledge a few feet apart. He turned back to face the women. "Just place your hand on each egg for a few seconds. That will give the dragon inside enough time to see if you are worthy.

"Blake you first." Blake stepped forward and placed a shaking hand on the green egg. She held it there for a few seconds, then moved on to the golden egg. The whole time it looked like she was trying to keep herself from freaking out. Out of all the girls, Aaron thought Blake was the least likely to become a Rider. It wasn't something with her personality, but the fact that she was a Faunus. The bond with dragons was only tied with elves and humans. Faunus are half animal, but the half human part may be enough.

"Weiss, you're next." The heiress walked up to the eggs and went through the same process. If Aaron was right, Weiss wanted to make a name for herself. He saw many of the same actions and attitudes among younger Riders and regular humans. Weiss most likely had a rough childhood and wanted to overshadow her parents. Then again, from the little time he'd known her, Aaron saw she had a warm and caring heart under the cold exterior.

"Elena, your turn." The silver-eyed girl walked up and placed a hand on the green egg and held it there for a few seconds before placing a hand on the golden egg. After she raised her hand off the egg she knelt down and whispered something to the eggs before stepping back. If Aaron was right, Elena was the wildcard of the group. She was born human but had suffered at the hands of the Organization and was turned into a Claymore. Though, the little time Aaron had known the young Claymore she always had a compassionate soul. Would that be enough?

"Yang, you're up." The blonde placed her hand on the green egg, then moved to the gold. She paused with her hand hovering a few inches above the egg and cast a sideways glance at Ruby and Cerise. Yang finally placed her hand on the egg and held it there for a long time. She backed off after about twenty seconds, four times as long as any other placement.

As for Yang's chances, she seemed the most likely and one of the least for an egg to hatch for her. At least some of her motivation was unknown. If she really wanted to get better, there were plenty of other ways to do it, and most of them were less dangerous. However, she appeared to be the only one to _really_ want an egg to hatch for her. Was that, and the golden egg's relation to Cerise enough?

"So how long until we know if one of us has been chosen?" Blake asked.

"Hatching times can vary from a few hours to a few weeks," Aaron said. "The eggs will also only hatch if their Rider is near. I suggest you all come by here at least once per day for the next two or three weeks."

"Why don't we take the eggs back to our room?" Weiss asked.

Aaron shook his head. "Nalia and I are responsible for the eggs' safety. I already failed with Cerise' egg, I'm just glad it turned out to be a happy failure. No, the eggs will stay with us."

The girls nodded. "Well, we're going to be here a while," Yang said. "Anyone got Scrollflix? Aaron and Elena need to see Galaxy Wars."

"Wars isn't on there, Trek is though," Weiss said.

Yang put a hand over her eyes. "Not another Trek is better rant."

While the two girls argued, Aaron made his way over to his student. Ruby, can I talk to you and Cerise for a second?" He gestured to the far side of the Dragonhouse.

"Sure," she said. The two Riders and the red dragon walked together to the empty corner. Nalia positioned herself between the group and the rest of the girls. "What's this about?"

"I must apologize for something I did yesterday." Aaron rubbed the back of his neck. "In the clearing, I was paying close attention to Cerise' condition, and I heard her first word."

Ruby made a confused face while Cerise growled. The younger Rider looked down at her dragon. "Is it that big of a deal?"

_It is, _Nalia responded. _A bonded dragon's first words are intended for his or her Rider, and __**only**_ _the Rider. Those that hear, intentionally or not, are subject to severe punishment from the offended dragon and Rider._

Ruby blinked several times and her jaw dropped slightly. "How severe?"

"Anything short of dismemberment," Aaron responded in a flat tone.

Ruby looked down at Cerise and an unheard conversation passed between them. The younger Rider shook her head a few times, then Cerise nodded once. "Well, you were making sure Cerise was alright, and I did almost took your arm off earlier, so we're even."

Aaron sighed. "Thank you Ruby. That is all I wanted to say for now."

"I do have a few questions though. Is it possible to send pictures in my head to Cerise?"

"Of course. In fact, that's a wild dragon's primary form of communication. You'd be surprised how many times it's more useful than just using words."

"One more thing," Ruby paused, "do you think either of the eggs will hatch for them?"

Aaron closed his eyes and dipped his head. "Only time will tell."

**[...]**

**A/N: I hope you all enjoyed that chapter and yes I purposely held back part of the Legend of the Dragon Faunus to make things more interesting. Also if you were wondering what Elena said to the dragon eggs, she just told them to have fun with the Riders that they choose. **

**Now onto reviews!**

**Hamm1999: As much as I wanted to make a part for this chapter about Soldier, It is way too early to write about the Team Fortress 2 Characters until their introduction later in the story. But I do plan on having a chapter later dedicated to Soldier and Rick May. Thank you for the Idea this has inspired.**

**Welp, that's all the comments for this chapter. Now I have to go look up a song for a fight you all will want to see next chapter. Aaron VS Elena! Who will win? Just wait till the next chapter is out. Rocket, Poke, who do you think will win?**

**R: I'm partial to Kar En Tuk, but that one BFG Division is a good one too, though I think 'The Only thing they fear is You' might also be appropriate. All of these are by Mick Gordon, btw… I like Doom. No idea who'd win though.**

**RS: I was asking about the fight not the song for the fight. Lol. I'll take a look. (been reading a doom/rwby fic recently.)**

**Anyway look forward to the next chapter everyone.**


	23. Rider VS Claymore and Joyful Experiences

**A/N: Oh wow guys! This story has already gotten over 10,000 views. Thank you so much! As said I have a surprise in mind for everyone reading this story. You will have to wait for the next chapter to see it.**

**Now onto the story.**

**[...]**

There were two major things Aaron learned in his week of training Ruby. The first was that she was a fast learner. Ruby ate up any challenge her teacher threw at her. She progressed past floating a rock to breaking boulders in the Emerald Forest. In regards to wards, she cast some basic ones that protected from scratches and the like. Due to Rhunӧn's ward piercing enchantments, Redemption cut right through Ruby's Aura, something that most weapons here couldn't do. Either she encountered or heard about Aura before, or some combination of spells worked together. The only reason she still had arms was because Aaron blocked his sword's edge before Ruby arrived at the arena that first day. Her mental attacks became more and more vicious as time went on. The state of her defenses, however, Aaron nor Nalia could judge due to their inability to assault other minds.

Secondly, Aaron was completely outclassed in physical combat. While he technically won every one of their sparring matches, Ruby always held back. Her semblance gave her too much of an advantage, and the wards to fend off the Dust rounds fired from Crescent Rose ate up too much of Aaron's energy. He needed his Aura unlocked so both of them could use their full strength. Pyrrha offered to unlock his Aura at one point, but Aaron rejected because of the… intimacy of the process.

Ruby also could attack from an incredible range. In fact, most students, law enforcement, and even civilians had weapons that could attack from far away. Aaron needed a weapon to attack from range. A bow and arrow seemed like the logical choice to someone who trained in using them, but the range and power of such a weapon were out classed so heavily by something that could almost fit in the palm of a hand. So after a prearranged spar between him and Elena, that he was heading to now with Ruby, the three of them would head to the Armory to find a ranged type of weapon for the Rider and Claymore they both could use to even the odds.

"So how's Cerise doing today?" Aaron asked Ruby as they left the dorms.

Ruby beamed at the thought of her dragon. "She's doing great! She killed an Ursa today by herself. Nalia took out the other three, but she got one!"

Aaron chuckled. "That's one more than I have. She coming back yet, or is she still hunting?"

"She's been flying back for a few minutes now." As a confirmation, a loud roar came from behind the two. Aaron turned his head and saw the not-so-small red dragon flying right toward them, or more specifically, Ruby. Knowing what was coming, the older Rider took a few steps away from his student. Ruby's shoulders tensed up. "Here we go again."

Cerise slammed into her Rider at full force. Aaron winced. That had to hurt, even through Aura and wards. The scar on Cerise' leg caught his eye. For whatever reason, the scales there refused to regrow. It wasn't infected, and the skin beneath had healed, so Aaron saw no reason why they shouldn't be growing back. The dragon didn't seem to notice though, so the Rider stopped worrying.

Ruby playfully shoved Cerise' head away from her own. "You're getting a little too big to keep doing that," she said.

Cerise stepped back a few steps to let her Rider up. _I will only be too big when your Aura is drained in one hit._

"She's got you there, Ruby," Aaron laughed.

"By the way, nice job with that Ursa." Ruby patted her dragon on the shoulder.

Cerise puffed out her chest. _The first of many, I'm sure._

"Ruby, I believe we should get going. I don't want to make Elena wait any longer than she needs to."

"Oh, right." Ruby turned and led the way to the same Arena they had their first spar at. Cerise walked alongside her. "What else are you and Nalia doing today?"

_Nalia is taking me on 'agility' training in the mountains. Not sure what she means exactly, but I'm guessing it's to work on flying close to cliffs without hitting them. _Aaron smirked. Cerise didn't say anything wrong, but she didn't know about what she had to carry while flying.

"She's not pushing you too hard, is she?" Ruby asked.

_Not at all. She knows my limits before I do._

"Nalia's been through the training before," Aaron said, "and on a much more strict and challenging regimen. We aren't trained in teaching though, so we're making this up as we go along." _And probably missing some important things._

Ruby laughed. "What would your teachers say if they saw your teaching style?"

"I'm not sure if they'd berate me or congratulate me, or some combination."

"Well I think you've been a great teacher so far."

"Let's see if you have that same opinion when we move away from combat." By that point, the group was just outside the arena. Cerise turned around and flew off to the mountains while Aaron and Ruby walked inside. Inside Elena was waiting for them and surprisingly Professor Goodwitch was there as well.

"Hey guys," Elena called out.

"Hey Elena," Ruby waved at the young Claymore. "Where's Teresa? I thought she would be here to see this?"

Professor Goodwitch quickly adjusted her glasses before answering the younger Rider's question. "Professor Silver is currently tracking a particularly dangerous Grimm with Professor Port out in the Emerald Forest. She has asked me to oversee this sparring match between Mister Benson and Miss Silver."

"Oh," Ruby said a tiny bit disappointed that Teresa wasn't going to make it.

"Now If you are ready Mister Benson, please take your position," Professor Goodwitch said.

**[Play: This is it - Oh the Larceny]**

Aaron walked over to his starting position while Elena walked over to hers. They both drew their blades at the same time.

"Elena, you already know the name of my sword," Aaron said. "But let me ask you this. What is the name of your claymore?"

A smile formed on the young Claymore's face. "Someone once told me that my claymore is a representation of myself and if I were to name it, I should go with a single word that best describes myself." She momentarily looked at the crimson emblem that was etched into the blade. Her emblem. "I have thought long and hard about this. There is only one single word that describes me the best. That word is Empathy and that is the name of my claymore."

"It suits you," Aaron responded.

"Thank you," Elena replied. "But I have to warn you. Like Redemption, Empathy and her sisters can pass through Aura." there was a slight pause and her voice lowered to only a whisper that only Aaron could hear. "There is also a possibility that she can pass through your wards as well." Elena raised Empathy and entered a battle stance.

Aaron raised Redemption and took his own battle stance. "Thank you for the warning. Now are you ready?"

Elena simply nodded.

"Then let us begin," Aaron said.

For a few moments the two began to circle each other. Elena was the first to make a move as she rushed the older Rider and swung Empathy in a right to left downward motion. Aaron managed to raise Redemption in time to block the strike. He expected the speed but he didn't expect the raw strength behind the attack. The young Claymore followed up with another strike similar to the first. Again Aaron blocked it, but only just.

Elena swung again but missed entirely until she continued the motion and spun her body around to make the next strike stronger. Aaron was forced down to one knee when he blocked the attack.

The young Claymore pressed on the attack but the older Rider saw an opening and quickly counter attacked Elena with an upward swing of his sword. Elena barely managed to duck under the sword swing, but Aaron managed to continue the attack and force her to take a few steps back. The noise in the arena grew as each time Redemption and Empathy clashed against each other.

Changing up tactics, the young Claymore side stepped a sword swing and quickly spun around Aaron's side. The moment she faced his back, Elena swung Empathy at the older Rider in a right to left horizontal motion. At the last possible second she twisted her sword so that the flat part of the blade would hit the older Rider instead of the edge of the sword itself.

Aaron expected the hit but didn't expect to see himself completely knocked off his feet. After landing a couple of feet away from where he was, he quickly noticed a sizable pain on his right side. _Aaron what happened? _Nalia asked with a bit of concern for her Rider.

_I'm alright, _Aaron mentally replied to his dragon. _Elena's a lot stronger than she looks and she did warn me of the possibility of her claymore having the ability to pass through wards._

_Be careful. I want you to still be standing when we give Ruby and Cerise their gift later, _Nalia told her Rider.

A slight smile formed on Aaron's face and he mentally nodded to Nalia. As the older Rider stood up, he whispered a few words in the ancient language causing the pain in his side to quickly disappear.

"Are you alright Aaron?" Elena asked, feeling a bit guilty from hitting the older Rider so hard.

"I'm fine," Aaron replied as he patted his side to make sure he didn't miss any other injuries. "How about next time you stop right before Empathy makes impact with my body again."

The young Claymore nodded and they both walked back to their starting positions. After a couple of seconds both Rider and Claymore continued their spar. This time Aaron was the first to attack. He went for a slash at her right shoulder but again Elena blocked it quite easily.

Elena tried to counter with an upward right to left swing to Aaron's chest but Aaron managed to bring Redemption in front of himself and deflected the attack away. The older Rider swung Redemption at the young Claymore's left flank but again was blocked by Empathy.

After a minute of attacking and blocking, Aaron decided it was time to go for a more defensive approach. Elena pressed on trying to find an opening only for everyone of her attacks to be expertly deflected or blocked. Elena again spun around to build up the momentum of her attack. That is when Aaron saw his chance. He quickly ducked under a right to left downward swing from Elena and managed to swing Redemption fast enough that the young Claymore only a few seconds to react. The older Rider stopped his attack the moment his sword was less than a couple of inches from Elena's neck. At the same time a smile formed on Elena's face.

Something in the back of Aaron's mind was telling him that this moment was all too familiar for him. "Looks like I won this round," he said. The young Claymore only raised an eyebrow then nodded towards where Empathy was pointed. The older Rider looked to where Elena had Empathy pointed at. The tip of the claymore's blade was millimeters away from Aaron's crotch. Normally Aaron would see this as a dirty trick, but there was a rule to this his friend Brom had explained to him. For men it was completely dishonorable to do such a thing. But for women they had every right to pull such a move on any male opponent. Even a fellow female Riders he sparred with on occasion before the Fall did this.

The older Rider sighed. "Okay, I admit defeat. You win this spar."

**[End Song]**

Both Rider and Claymore withdrew their blades and resheathed them. Suddenly someone started clapping. They both turned their heads to see Teresa standing at the sidelines with Ruby and Professor Goodwitch.

"Mister Benson, Elena, you both did splendidly," Teresa said with a hint of pride leaking into her voice. "As such I will personally pay for the new weapons you both had planned on getting."

"Umm, thank you?" Aaron wasn't sure what to say.

"As said, from what I have seen, both of you have enough combat experience and skill to enter Beacon's next initiation this weekend." Professor Goodwitch said as she adjusted her glasses. "I look forward to seeing both of you in my class next semester." With that, Professor Goodwitch started walking towards the center of Beacon.

Aaron turned his head back to the Silver-eyed professor to see her hand something to Ruby. The young Silver-eyed Rider nodded and walked over to the older Rider and young Claymore.

"Come on guys! Let's go to the armory!" Ruby said enthusiastically. "We should hurry if you two want some practice at the firing range."

"Lead the way," Elena said.

Ruby happily led both Rider and Claymore to the armory. As they left the arena, Aaron started up a small conversation. "When did Professor Silver arrive to see us spar?" he asked.

"It was when Elena managed to land that blow to your side," Ruby replied. "Also that had to hurt a lot."

"It did." Aaron turned his head towards the young Claymore. "Thank you for not slicing me in half back there."

Elena simply nodded.

"Anyway here we are," Ruby said as they walked up the armory's store entrance. The building was actually very close to the arena they were at moments ago. As the small group walked inside they could see the walls were lined with all sorts of merchandise. Weapons ranged from simple knives to what Ruby called a 'double-barreled rocket launcher.' The armor showcased varied from vests and other patches that could fit under clothes to the full sets of plate armor that was worn in Alagaësia. Aaron had his ruined jacket repaired and brought it here to get it armored. Armored clothing was fairly popular, if looking around at the students in the cafeteria and fellow company proved anything.

"What exactly are you both looking for?" Ruby asked.

"Something small, or something that's good at both short and long range," Aaron said.

"Something unique that can shoot at long range but also can fire short range if I'm ever in a bad situation," Elena said. "Also something preferably that I can holster on my back." She pointed to the empty slot on the special scabbard that was attached to her back.

Ruby brought a hand to her chin, as if in deep thought. "A pistol or an assault rifle, maybe a shotgun as well." She walked over to a display case with various types of handguns. She pointed to one of the larger ones inside. "How about the Desert Falcon? Technically both this and Crescent Rose are .50 cals, but the ammo is completely different. Back to this thing, it's fairly close range, but it does the job. If adjusted right, it can have some good stopping power. Looks like this one can fire eight rounds before reloading."

Aaron looked in the case. The Desert Falcon was definitely the thickest handgun in there, but it still looked relatively easy to handle with one hand. "This one looks good for a tight situation," he said.

"That's what mom said. She has one herself," Elena said looking at the gun.

Ruby nodded then walked over to a wall labeled 'assault rifles.' "As for one of these, I'd suggest the V4. It's getting old, but it's reliable. Police have been using it for years. The military used it when it first came out, but they've upgraded in the past few years."

"What's the purpose of the ridges on the barrel?" Aaron asked.

"Various attachments. A flashlight, another grip," Ruby smirked, "a grenade launcher."

Aaron raised an eyebrow. "Grenades are those small, metal things that blow up, right?" Ruby nodded, and Aaron grinned. "Okay, I'll have to check this one out too."

"What about you Elena?" Ruby asked. Ruby noticed the young Claymore wasn't standing next to the two Riders and was looking at a small selection of guns labeled 'Hybrids.'

Ruby walked over to the young Silver-eyed warrior. "These weapons here are the ancestors of the many weapons Huntsmen and Huntresses use out in the field everyday. Even my very own Crescent Rose can trace her origins back to one of these guns," Ruby explained. "If you were to choose one of these, I'd recommend the Daikal IZH-46. It's one of the Under/Over family gun types and can shoot both shotgun shells and rifle rounds. Also this is one of the first hybrid weapons Atlas ever made for both professional and civilian use. All in all, it's a classic."

"I would very much like to try it." Elena said humbly.

"Great! I'll talk to the quartermaster and see about getting you both some test weapons." While Ruby ran off to talk to the man behind the thick pane of glass, Aaron and Elena looked around some more. The older Rider's eyes rested on the shields in the back corner. He always fought with a shield back in Alagaësia, and he did miss having one when he sparred with both Elena and Ruby. He was glad he ordered one of them when he brought in his jacket.

After a few minutes, Ruby waved Elena and Aaron to the back room. The Desert Falcon, V4 and the Daikal IZH-46 lay on a table inside along with three pairs of earmuffs. "Quartermaster said only two magazines for the Falcon and V4, and six of both ammo types for the Daikal," Ruby said.

"Where is he anyway?" Aaron asked. "Shouldn't he be here when people are testing weapons?"

"Pfft, he knows me, and I know more about some of the weapons here than he does." She picked up the Falcon and one set of earmuffs and walked over to the firing line. "First off, _never_ point a gun at someone unless you intend to shoot them." Ruby listed off several firearm safety rules that seemed like common sense to Aaron, but those rules are made for a reason.

After finishing her lecture on safety, Ruby put on her earmuffs and motioned for both Aaron and Elena to do the same. "The safety is on the end of the slide here." She flicked the switch she pointed at, then faced down range. An image of a Beowolf appeared at the far end. "Line up the target in the sights," Ruby brought the gun up to eye level, "And gently ease back on the trigger."

The Desert Falcon made an extremely loud bang heard even through the earmuffs. The gun spat fire and launched a piece of metal flying at the fake Beowolf at incredible speeds. A red light lit up on the Grimm, right in the center of the mask. Ruby fired three more shots, all landed within an inch of the first. The Falcon jumped back in the young Rider's hands after each shot, but she controlled the bucking weapon like an experienced stablehand. She flicked the safety on again and pointed the gun at the ground.

Aaron whistled and removed one side of his earmuffs. "Nice grouping there. I've only seen some elves get that close in such a short time."

Ruby shrugged. "It's been too long since I've fired anything other than Crescent Rose. I'm slipping." She shifted her grip to the barrel of the weapon and offered it to Aaron grip first. As the older Rider stepped up to the firing line, Ruby snapped her head back to the wall behind the three of them. "Why is Nalia having Cerise carry boulders while flying?"

"Because you never know how much she'll need to carry someday. It also builds stamina."

"At least she gets to carry boulders," Elena complained. "I have to split this giant boulder that's as tall as me in half with only my human strength and my claymore."

"Why would you do such a thing?" Ruby asked.

"It builds strength and helps develop and improve the swordsmanship of the person wielding a sword," Aaron explained. "Before the Fall, some of the older Riders did it regularly to improve themselves or even help recover strength they lost after recovering from a serious injury."

"Okay," Ruby said, not really understanding. "Be careful when firing that thing. It has quite the kick." Aaron focused on setting his grip on the Falcon like Ruby had. After a few seconds he had the right grip, then raised the weapon to eye level. A few pieces of iron stuck out of the top of the gun that looked to form a line. Aaron pointed this imaginary line at the Beowolf's chest. He attempted to flick the safety off with an index finger several times before getting it. Ruby snickered behind him.

Aaron slowly pulled back on the trigger. The expected sound and flash came out of the end, but he didn't expect the gun to come flying back at him. He stopped the barrel of the gun only an inch from his nose. "Barzul!" he yelled, using the old dwarvish curse. "You weren't kidding about the kick." he looked downrange at the Beowolf. A red dot appeared roughly where he intended.

"No one ever expects recoil on that level on the first shot." Ruby was visually and audibly trying to hold back a laugh. "Finish your shots with that so Elena can have her turn." Aaron raised the Falcon back to eye level and targeted the dot he made before. Aaron fired the remaining three shots in quick succession. Those shots also hit their target. Even though the gun was empty, he flicked the safety back on.

"This one is definitely an option," Aaron said as he placed the Falcon back on the table.

"I've never seen anybody take to the Desert Falcon so easily," Ruby replied as she quickly reloaded the gun and handed it to Elena. The young Silver-eyed warrior walked up to the firing line and shot down range. Aaron was surprised, the gun only slightly recoiled in her hands. All eight shots landed roughly in the same spot around the fake Beowolf's right eye.

"Oh wow. How did you get so good?" Ruby asked, with a bit of shock in her voice.

"Mom has this same gun. She would let me practice on occasion with it," Elena explained. "It honestly took me a few times not to hit myself in the face before I could fire it properly." she flicked the safety on and placed the gun on the table.

"Well as they say, no pain, no gain." Ruby said as she picked up the Daikal IZH-46. "Okay, now unlike both the Desert Falcon and V4, the Daikal IZH-46 doesn't use a magazine loading system. This gun is what is called a break loading gun." She pointed to a small lever near the top of the gun. "This little lever lets you open the gun up so you can load not just one, but two different types of ammunition into the firing chamber." She pushed the lever with her thumb and the middle of the rifle split and the front half swung forward a bit to reveal the inner ends of two different sized gun barrels. Ruby then explained the two different types of ammunition the rifle used as she picked up one of each ammunition off the table. The younger Rider also explained the differences between similar ammunition types that did and did not work with this particular rifle. After that she loaded a single rifle round and a single shotgun shell into their respective firing barrels and closed the rifle which gave off a simple click sound.

"Now this gun can only hold one round of both ammunition types. This will force you to reload more often. " Ruby said as she continued her lecture. "The safety here," she pointed to a small switch on the top of the gun's second half, "will automatically set itself on whenever you reload as well. So you will have to remember to turn it off everytime you want to fire."

The young Silver-eyed Rider walked up to the firing line. "Now there's two triggers on the Daikal. The first one fires the loaded shotgun shell while the second one fires the rifle round. Also its best to remember the shotgun ammunition is best for close range, while the rifle ammunition is for medium range to long distance sniping." Ruby took aim at a new Beowolf target. As she did she pressed her shoulder into the stock of the rifle and gently squeezed the second trigger. The sound that followed was about half as loud as the Desert Falcon made. This time the bullet landed dead center in the Beowolf's mask. Ruby lowered the barrel of the gun slightly and gently squeezed the first trigger. Another loud bang signaled that the shotgun part of the Daikal had fired and a large section of the Beowolf's left side was covered in red dots. She lowered the Daikal and flick the safety on with her thumb.

"That looks handy in a tight situation," Elena said.

"Care to give it a go Elena?" Ruby asked as she held out the rifle towards the young Claymore.

The young Claymore accepted the offer and took the gun from the young Rider's hands. As she walked up to the firing line, Elena reloaded the Daikal and took aim. She managed to use her right thumb to turn the safety off before firing the rifle round. The bullet impacted into the fake Grimm's nose giving it an odd look that Aaron found a bit funny. Elena aimed again and fired. A large red hole appeared on the center of the Beowolf's bone mask. The young Claymore lowered the Daikal and started to look it over with a large smile on her face.

"So how does it feel?" Ruby asked.

"It's perfect," Elena said joyfully.

"Well you handled it like a pro for the first time. Especially with the shotgun shell," Ruby said confidently. "You did even better than I did when I first shot my first shotgun shell."

"What happened?" Aaron asked.

"I didn't have a proper grip and the shotgun flew out of my arm. I still feel bad for it hitting uncle Qrow below the belt," Ruby said sadly. "I was eight years old then though."

Elena tried and failed to hold back a laugh.

Ruby sighed before focusing her attention back on Aaron. "Would you like to try out the Daikal or move on to the V4?"

Aaron looked over to the rifle in Elena's hands. After a few moments of thought he shook his head. "Let's continue with the V4. I believe I would run into more problems with the Daikal than it will solve. It suits Elena more than myself."

"Alrighty then." As Elena set the Daikal back down on the table Ruby picked up the V4. She ejected the magazine, looked inside, and then pushed it back into place. "This one has less kick and power to each bullet than the Falcon, but fires much faster and has a longer range. The Daikal has the longest range of the three guns, but the V4 makes up for it with how much ammunition it can fire before reloading. The V4 has a standard thirty round magazine, and can fire single shot or a three round burst."

Ruby brought the weapon up to her shoulder and aimed at the Beowolf again. She flicked the safety off then fired one shot, quickly followed by another two. She flicked the safety switch again, and three bullets flew out when she pulled the trigger again. Aaron noticed something about these shots though. They weren't concentrated on one point. It wasn't until Ruby fired three more bursts until Aaron figured out why. Two in the eyes, one in the nose, the rest forming a smile. Ruby had reset the Beowolf target before she fired at it with the V4, but Aaron could have sworn the young Rider hit the same spot on the nose as Elena had a moment before.

"Showing off?" Aaron asked with a smirk on his face.

Ruby shrugged and flicked the safety back to its original position. "When you have the bullets, why not?" She handed the V4 to Aaron. "The safety on this one also controls the fire rate. The first notch is a single shot, the second is the three shot burst."

Aaron took the weapon and stepped up to the firing line. He turned the safety switch to the single-shot position and aimed at the Beowolf. The Rider pulled the trigger and launched a bullet at the fake Grimm. It hit right in the center of the creature's head. Aaron fired two more shots, concentrating on a close grouping. They landed just on either side of the first. Aaron switched the V4 to the burst-fire setting, then fired once at the Beowolf. The three bullets landed one on top of the other. Aaron fired the remaining three bursts into the target, all ending up in the head of the fake Grimm.

The older Rider lowered the weapon and smiled. The V4 felt right. It wasn't as good of a connection between him and Redemption, but then again, nothing could come that close. "I like this one," he said.

"Are you sure you both never shot a gun before arriving on Remnant?" Ruby asked, her tone suggesting that she was in a state just short of awe.

"I've never even heard of guns before I came here," Aaron said.

"Guns don't even exist where I'm from," Elena responded.

Aaron flicked the safety back on and set the V4 back on the table. "So what's the purchasing process like here? I know Professor Silver is paying for our guns but something tells me it's different than it is at a clothes shop in the city."

"It's not too different. We need to let the quartermaster know we're done then pay up at the booth. He'll need to see your ID too. You both have your Scroll on you, right?" Ruby asked.

Aaron dug into his pocket and felt around for the device he received from Ozpin only two days before. He didn't understand most things it could do, but he did know that it at least could be used for long distance communication and identification. As expected, the Scroll sat inside one of the side pockets on his jeans. "I have it."

"Same here," Elena said, holding up her own Scroll as well.

Ruby nodded, then knocked on the door to the back room. A few seconds later the quartermaster came out and started to talk with the younger Rider. Aaron meanwhile sent his thoughts out to Nalia. _How is Cerise doing? _He asked.

_She is carrying about a quarter of her weight with no problem, _Nalia responded, a hint of pride in her mental voice. _I think she's ready. She just needs to be fitted._

_You have the surprise stored somewhere, don't you?_

_In our cave. I'll send Cerise back to the Dragonhouse while I fetch it. _Aaron pulled back into his own mind just as Ruby apparently finished saying something funny to the quartermaster. The man grabbed the three weapons and spare ammunition, then walked back into the backroom.

"Did I miss something?" Aaron asked his student.

"Nothing you would understand," Ruby said, trying to hold back a laugh. "Come on, Ash said he'll meet us around front." Aaron shrugged as ruby led the small up to the supposedly bulletproof glass.

"You find what you were looking for?" the quartermaster named Ash asked.

Elena nodded. "I'm going to go with the Daikal IZH-46. Is it possible to get it in the colors that I would like and some sort of attachment that makes aiming easier?"

Ash nodded. "What colors would you like?"

"Silver and black with a crimson trim. And if possible have my emblem in crimson on there as well."

"Alright," Ash said as he typed up Elena's customization request. "Would you like any bullet or shell holders as well?"

"Yes please." Elena said grateful for the suggestion.

Ash nodded and finished typing up the order. He then turned his attention to Aaron. "Did you find anything you liked?"

"I think I'm going to go with the V4," Aaron said. "I believe I also have two other things reserved as well."

"I'm going to need to see ID from the both of you." Aaron and Elena handed their Scrolls to Ash through the depression between the glass and the wooden ledge. Ash first placed Elena's Scroll under a red light then Aaron's. Something beeped when Aaron's Scroll was scanned and the quartermaster looked at something Aaron couldn't see.

"It looks like you have a shield and an armored jacket to pick up. I'll go grab them from around back." Ash disappeared into the backroom. Ruby began telling Aaron and Elena about the various weapons in the main room. She started out slow and picked up speed as she talked. The two followed along for the most part, but Aaron couldn't understand more than half of what his student said. He also believed the young Claymore had the same trouble as well.

Luckily Ash returned from the backroom before Ruby could burn herself out. He placed the shield, jacket, and V4 in a drawer on his side of the glass. "Your guns have already been paid for. Will the rest be going on your student account or will you be paying in some other way?"

"Student account will be fine." That was the only way Aaron could pay for his shield and jacket. While he still had a substantial amount of Lien from his… activities in his first two weeks in Vale, it wouldn't cover half of the cost for his shield.

Ash nodded and pressed a few buttons. "Okay, you're both all set." He pushed the drawer on his side and it opened in front of Aaron. "Hope these serve you well. Ruby, don't let him hurt himself with anything here."

Ruby laughed. "Don't worry, he's a natural with the V4."

Ash nodded and turned his attention towards the young Claymore. "Your Daikal will be ready for you in a couple of days."

"If possible can you possibly fix my sheath so it can hold the Daikal on the left side?" Elena asked the quartermaster.

"Sure thing. Just place it in the drawer when you are ready."

As Elena began to remove the scabbard on her back, Aaron grabbed his jacket out of the drawer and held it up. The hole Ruby accidentally made was sewed up expertly. No trace of blood existed either. The jacket itself weighed a little heavier. The only visible armor plates rested on the shoulders and elbows. The front and back felt like they were filled with a mix of plate armor and some type of armor Aaron didn't recognize. He turned the jacket around and saw the emblem he asked to be sewed on: A white silhouette of a dragon in full flight. Aaron smiled and put the jacket on, barely noticing the weight increase.

The older Rider slung his new V4 over his back, then picked up and inspected his shield. The same emblem on his back gleamed on the metal shield, only in forest green instead of white. Overall, the initial impressions of his new equipment were good, but Aaron wouldn't know how it all held up until he got in a fight. He looked back up at Ash as Elena was putting her sheath into the drawer. "Thank you for your service, sir," he said.

Ash smiled and nodded. "Come back anytime." With that Aaron, Elena and Ruby left the armory.

"Hey guys, I'm going to head out and try to split that boulder in half again." Elena said as she held Empathy.

"Good luck and have fun," Ruby said.

And with that the Riders and Claymore went their own directions. Both Aaron and Ruby headed back to the Dragonhouse to give the younger Rider a chance to earn that title.

**[...]**

"Why is Nalia having Cerise come back early?" Ruby asked.

"You two are going to do some training together," Aaron responded.

"So, we're testing each other's mental capabilities again?"

"That's part of it."

Ruby narrowed her eyes. "Why do you have to be so cryptic about everything?"

Aaron smirked. "This time I just want to see the look on your face when Nalia arrives." Ruby blinked a few times. This was either really good or really bad.

Cerise was already waiting in the Dragonhouse when the two Riders arrived. For once, she didn't tackle Ruby on sight. She just looked over at her Rider and hummed. _Apparently boulders are easier to break than they are to carry, _she told Ruby.

_Come on, it couldn't have been that bad,_ Ruby said as she patted her dragon on the shoulder. _You're not about to collapse._

The red dragon nodded. _Nalia has some other plans for today that I'll need my strength for. I don't know what._

_Aaron said that we'll be training together on something, but I don't know what that could be._

"Nalia's almost here," Aaron called as he walked over to the pair. "Let's see if I can time this right."

"You have some sort of dramatic reveal planned?" Ruby asked.

Aaron smirked. "Something like that. Now, I'd like to say that you two are progressing far faster than I expected. It might be Nalia's and my training techniques, but I'm expecting it's you two. I've never heard of a human Rider able to split a boulder with only a few days of training, and Cerise is growing at an extremely fast rate, even for a dragon." Ruby blushed and Cerise looked away.

The main door of the Dragonhouse opened slowly, revealing Nalia holding something in one of her front paws. "Now it's time for the both of you to know why we're called Dragon Riders." Nalia dropped what she was carrying and Ruby gasped. It was a saddle. There was nothing fancy about it, just a plain, brown leather saddle.

Ruby couldn't hold back her smile. It was a blank slate. She could do anything she wanted with it. As long as it fit Cerise, it was perfect. Cerise shared in her Rider's excitement. The red dragon walked up to the saddle and looked it over herself. She gently flipped it over and sniffed it. Cerise nodded, satisfied.

"Normally, you'd be taught how to make your own, but honestly," Aaron scratched the back of his neck, "I'm terrible at it. After several less than adequate attempts, my friend Brom helped me out. He actually made most of it while I just helped with measuring and fitting."

"I'm sure I could figure it out myself." Ruby walked over to the saddle herself and knelt down beside it. She looked over the straps and ran them through her hands. They felt both smooth yet strong. "How hard was it to find one with straps this long?"

Aaron sighed. "Finding a place that sells saddles was hard enough. Only one in the city would extend the straps to that length. Trust me, in the coming months, you'll need every inch."

Ruby picked up the saddle, looked over at Cerise, then back at Aaron. "How exactly do I put this on?" Over the next ten minutes, Aaron explained the proper way to saddle a dragon, from where to place it on Cerise' back to how tight the straps should be. Ruby insisted on doing all the work herself with Aaron only telling her what to do.

When Cerise was properly saddled, she stood up and moved all her joints to make sure she could still move. She snorted her approval. _This will work, _she said. _It's light and it doesn't impede my movements too much._

Ruby smiled, then thought of something that could be a problem on a long flight. "Do saddles chafe?" she asked.

Aaron shook his head. "Only if you clamp your legs." he looked over at Ruby, "Just trust Cerise and leave the flying to her. You'll be relaxed in no time."

"Good to know."

_Would you two stop talking?_ Cerise asked as she shook her back end. _Get over here so we can fly._ Ruby didn't need to be told twice. She jumped from the ground directly into the saddle and strapped her legs in. The red dragon quickly moved outside the Dragonhouse and waited for Nalia. Cerise' excitement radiated off her. _I can't wait for you to feel the wind! _she told Ruby exclusively. _You'll never want to walk again._

Aaron climbed onto Nalia's back while she was moving out the door. "You might want to hold onto that spike in front of you," he called. "Also, while in the air, mental communication is best. We won't be able to hear one another due to the wind." With that, Nalia lifted her wings and drove them down, flinging her and her Rider into the air.

Cerise looked back at Ruby. _Hold on tight! _She lifted her wings and held them there, making her Rider's anticipation grow. After a few seconds, she plunged them to the ground. Ruby gasped and tensed up her grip on the neck spike in front of her. She wasn't expecting that much G-force, and she almost impaled her own head on the spike. Cerise slowed her ascent but didn't stop climbing.

As the dragon flew, the air grew colder. Ruby suddenly wished her hood and cloak were thicker, even though they couldn't be that high yet. She looked down at Beacon and saw the ground already a thousand feet below her. "Wow," she said, more to herself than anyone. She'd been in flying vehicles before, but she'd never felt so exposed, so free.

The two dragons reached about a quarter mile off the ground. Aaron stood in his saddle arms outstretched and eyes closed. Ruby snickered. She thought she saw the same pose in a movie once. Cerise roared at Nalia, and she roared back. The two dragons lined up side by side in the air, and Aaron strapped his arms to his saddle. Ruby looked at the back of her dragon's head. _Cerise, what's going—_

Cerise shot forward in a burst of speed, sending Ruby back in her saddle. If she hadn't strapped her legs in, she would have fallen back to the ground below. With some effort, Ruby grabbed the neck spike again. Her eyes watered due to the sheer amount of air rushing past her face. She blinked her eyes several times to try to get the tears out, but it didn't help.

Still, it felt so good. Cerise flew about as fast as Ruby could run with her semblance. But Ruby didn't feel the wind while she ran. The G-forces when Cerise banked and rolled were more intense than any roller coaster could produce, and it was all random. No track for anticipation. This was an entirely new experience, and she loved it.

After several minutes of free flying, the dragons hovered over the city of Vale. They roared at each other again. Cerise was panting, tired from the exertion. Ruby returned her gaze to the back of Cerise' head. _Next time you take off like that, warn me please._

Cerise turned back with a gleam in her eye. _No promises._ The Rider and dragon shared a laugh.

_Looks like I'm going to have to get some motorcycle goggles after all._

_Wasn't Yang pressing you to get some before?_

_Yeah, she was. _Ruby looked at the ocean to the west. She smirked as an idea popped into her head. _Speaking of Yang, time to make her super jealous. _She explained her idea to Cerise, and she agreed. The red dragon gained height and flew over the ocean. Nalia and Aaron followed close behind, even though they had no idea what their students were up to.

Cerise flew to about two miles over the ocean. The wind blew fiercely and had a bite to it, but Ruby didn't plan on staying up there long. She untied the straps around her legs and threw her right leg over to the left side of her saddle. As Aaron reached the same height and saw what Ruby was doing, he nearly panicked. _Ruby!_ He screamed with his mind, _What are you doing?_

Ruby just smiled and yelled with her voice and mind, "Skydiving!" She slid out of the saddle and started her free-fall. Her arms spread out by instinct to slow her fall. Cerise circled around her Rider in a more controlled descent. Once again, skydiving was a new experience. The closest she ever came to it was being flung into the Emerald Forest for initiation, and there she had trees and Crescent Rose to break her fall. Here, it was just her, gravity, and the water below. Ruby saw a bird in her way and barely twisted her body in time to miss it.

A few hundred feet above the water, Cerise decided Ruby fell far enough and eased into her Rider saddle side up, then slowly leveled out her wings, bringing them into a fast glide. Ruby struggled to catch her breath as Cerise landed on the beach. She slid off the saddle and lay against her dragon's side. About a minute later Nalia landed next to them. Aaron jumped off his dragon's back. "What the heck was that?" he demanded. Ruby couldn't tell if his anger was genuine or not.

"That. Was. Awesome!" Ruby said when she caught her breath. She turned her head to Cerise and gave her a thumbs up. "Nice catch." She patted her dragon on the shoulder.

Aaron stood dumbfounded, then broke into laughter. "That did look like fun. What did you call that? Skydiving?"

"Yep, it's normally done with parachutes though. I guess we don't need them though."

Aaron continued to laugh. "I guess we don't. I'm surprised no one's tried that before. Now, I can't believe I—" Aaron snapped his head toward the city. Nalia did the same and growled.

Ruby looked at the two in shock. "What's going on?"

Her teacher pointed a finger toward the heart of the city. "Extend your mind about a mile in that direction." Ruby did as instructed. At first she didn't see or feel anything out of place, and was about to pull back when she found what Aaron and Nalia did.

Ruby scowled and Cerise growled. A little girl was being kidnapped.

**[...]**

**Well guys I hope you enjoyed this new chapter. The fight between Aaron and Elena literally was kicking my butt when I was writing it. I had planned for three separate rounds between the two but I ended up going with two instead.**

**Anyway for those who don't know what the real life guns that were in this chapter were, here is a list of what they are.**

**Desert Falcon - Desert Eagle**

**Daikal IZH-46 - Baikal IZH-94**

**V4 - M4 carbine**

**B/N- Now onto something completely different next chapter. Oh how I loved and hated writing that stuff… -Pokeman1280**

**A/N: Don't worry I plan on changing it up a bit.**

**B/N- Hmmm, I am worried and intrigued.**

**A/N: Don't worry we will see some characters we haven't seen in a while. Who they are is hush hush, secret secret stuff until next chapter.**

**Now onto the comments/reviews.**

**Hamm1999: Sorry but I will not be adding any more crossovers into this story except maybe one other one for the second volume. As said I'm still not sure about it.**

**Vahnimor: I'm glad you are enjoying this story.**

**Lordmatthaios: I'm glad to hear that.**

**TSC: Thank you for the kind words and inspiration.**

**Well hope you all enjoyed the chapter! Until next time.**


	24. Rescue

**A/N: Just a forewarning, this chapter will get dark real fast. Time to set this story into high gear! Don't forget to bring tissues.**

**[...]**

Ruby stared down at the nondescript red car a few hundred feet beneath her. From the outside, it was no different than any other car on the road. Somewhere inside though, a little girl was scared for her life. Ruby, Aaron, and their dragons had followed the car for several blocks, looking for a safe place to stop the vehicle. So far, every street was packed with people and other vehicles.

Cerise tensed up beneath her Rider. _This is taking too long, _she growled. _We should go now before they go another block._

_Patience Cerise, _Nalia snarled. _If we take him now, civilians could be endangered just by us landing. Anyway, this bastard isn't going to get away. I doubt one of those vehicles could out speed a dragon._

_You'd be surprised, _Ruby said. Soon, the car on the ground turned down a side street with minimal foot traffic. Ruby tightened her grip on a fully extended Crescent Rose. _I think this is our chance._

Across the sky, Aaron nodded and grasped his V4. _Let's do this. Cerise, land behind the car. We'll take front._ With that, Nalia folded her wings and dove for the ground at incredible speed. Cerise followed suit at a slightly different angle. Ruby closed her eyes to keep from tearing up. If it came to a fight, she had to be ready.

Nalia landed in front of the car and immediately blocked the road with her body. She snarled at the driver, showing a rare event of true anger. Cerise landed hard behind the vehicle, jarring Ruby. She recovered quickly and jumped out of the saddle, the rifle end of Crescent Rose pointing at the car.

Aaron dismounted Nalia and aimed his weapons at the driver. "Step out of the vehicle now, and you will not be harmed," he yelled. Nalia growled and curled her claws to accent the statement. Ruby saw the driver look in his side view mirror, most likely to look for an escape route. Unfortunately for him, he would have to go through an angry Huntress and dragon.

After what felt like several minutes of waiting, the driver's side door opened and the kidnapper stepped out with hands in the air. Aaron cautiously stepped forward with his weapon still raised. Still, there was some uncertainty in his eyes. _Ruby, _he asked mentally without changing his face, _what exactly is acceptable for police to do in this situation?_

If the situation was different, Ruby would have laughed. _Tell him to get face first on the ground and spread out his hands. _Aaron blinked, the only sign he heard Ruby. The older Rider did what she said though, and the kidnapper dropped to his knees, then his stomach.

Aaron lowered his weapon and approached the criminal. "Ruby, get the girl," he ordered. Ruby closed Crescent Rose and searched the car with her mind. She located the poor girl in the trunk and ran over to the car. The young Rider cast a spell to unlock the trunk.

Ruby opened the trunk and gasped. She knew that there was a girl in there, but she didn't know her condition. Her wrists and ankles were bound together and her mouth gagged. Bloody scratches ran along her face and arms. Only one dog ear stuck out of her hair, blood oozing from where the other should have been. Her whole body was shaking from fear and pain. This was the worst case of Faunus abuse Ruby had ever seen in person, or heard of for that matter.

"Come on, let's get you out of there." Ruby stuck an empty hand out to cast a spell to break her bonds, but the girl's fear spiked and wormed her way to the back of the trunk, where she shook even more. Ruby quickly brought her hand back, shocked herself. She expected the girl to be happy to see her to get her out of the trunk. How did people do this? Ruby searched through her training to find the right words to hopefully calm her down. She knew they were there somewhere. She put on the warmest smile she could when she found them. "Eka aí fricai un Shur'tugal." I am a Rider and a friend. Ruby put some energy into the words so the girl would hopefully understand.

Thankfully, the girl stopped shaking and her breathing slowed. Tears started streaming down her face. Ruby stuck her hand out again and cast the spell. The bonds around the girl's wrists and ankles ripped and fell away. She tore at the cloth in her mouth and ripped it off. She took a few deep breaths, then looked back at Ruby who still held her hand out. The girl hesitantly took the Rider's hand.

Ruby helped the Faunus girl out of the trunk and on to the ground. She nearly collapsed as she put her weight on her right foot, so Ruby carried her over to the curb. The Rider sat the girl down on the curb. "I'm going to do what I can to treat your injuries," she said. "This may itch a little, but you'll feel better when it's done." First Ruby stopped the bleeding from the stump that used to be an ear. Ruby checked the Faunus' right leg and found out that it was broken. She bit her lip. Aaron had only touched on that once before, but he was occupied. With Cerise' help. Ruby repaired the damage to the leg. The girl squirmed while the bone reset itself, but gave a sigh of relief when it returned to its normal condition. The only remaining visual injuries were the cuts. They were numerous, but thankfully not deep. Ruby sealed them all with a few more spells. She tried to keep her exhaustion from showing. That took more out of her than she thought it would.

When all the cuts disappeared, the Faunus girl ran her hands over her arms and legs. Her face slowly turned from one of fear to amazement. She moved a hand up to her ear stump and her spirits fell again. "Can—can you fix my ear?" she asked.

Ruby frowned and thought it over. As far as she knew, it was possible to regrow it, but she wasn't nearly that far in training. She looked over at Aaron, who had the kidnapper folded over the hood of the car. He stared into the back of the criminal's head like he was trying to get some information out of the criminal. _Aaron, _Ruby hesitantly called.

_What?_ came the quick and short response.

_Can you do anything about her ear?_ Aaron looked over for the first time at the girl from the trunk. His face was one of confusion mixed with anger. He looked her over several times trying to figure out which ear, then he focused his eyes on the remaining dog ear. His face cleared in realization.

He turned to Nalia and jerked his head at the kidnapper. She nodded then growled at the criminal. Aaron walked quickly to the two sitting on the curb. The girl squeaked then grabbed onto Ruby's arm. She looked back and forth between Cerise and Nalia rapidly. "What are they?" she whispered.

Ruby placed a hand on the girl's. "They aren't Grimm. They're dragons, and they're very friendly." She gestured over at Cerise to come closer. The dragon came, though she made a confused noise. The young Rider scratched behind her dragon's ear, her favorite spot. Cerise leaned into it and started humming.

The girl stopped gripping Ruby's arm so tightly. "Dragons?" she asked as if she was trying to remember something. Suddenly the girl's eyes widened in surprise and hope shined brightly in her eyes. "The dragons of light?" the girl asked.

Ruby smiled. "The very same."

"Like a big kitty." the girl said as she listened to Cerise hum.

Ruby nodded and smiled. "Like a big kitty." She had the same thought many times before.

Aaron knelt down in front of the girl and looked her in the eyes. "May I take a look at your ear?" he asked.

The girl hesitated, then nodded. Aaron sat down on the curb and placed a hand a few inches of the girl's head. She squirmed a little, but otherwise didn't move. Ruby decided it was probably time to break the ice a little and calm the girl down. "So, what's your name?" she asked.

The girl paused for a second before answering. "Violet Calrow."

"Hi Violet. I'm Ruby, this is Aaron, that is Cerise, and over there is Nalia." Ruby gestured at each person and dragon in turn. "We're students at Beacon academy."

Violet nodded, then seemed to realize something. She looked around frantically, tightening her grip on Ruby's arm again. Tears started to flow again. "Where am I? Where's my mommy?"

Ruby hesitated. She had a feeling that was coming. "We're on the northeastern side of Vale. Where were you when you got…separated from your mommy?"

The girl stayed silent for several seconds. "We were walking home from a movie. I saw a Lien card on the ground, then…" Violet closed her eyes and started sobbing. Ruby wrapped her arms around the girl. That was probably the wrong question to ask, but at least she had a rough idea of where Violet's mom was. There were several movie theaters on this side of the city, but only one of them in the direction the kidnapper drove from.

Police sirens finally could be heard over the noise of the city. Ruby looked in their direction and saw three police cruisers a few blocks down. They sped down the street and screeched to a stop a couple dozen feet in front of Cerise. The officers exited their vehicles, and several of them pointed their weapons at the red dragon in front of them.

Ruby and Cerise tensed up. They saved a little girl from a kidnapper and now they were being targeted? It wasn't right. Thankfully, one officer grabbed the gun of another and pointed it at the ground. "You heard the chief," he yelled to all the officers. "They're from Beacon. They aren't hostile." The police lowered their weapons, but several kept their weapons ready. The red dragon and Rider released some of their tension as the officer in charge walked up to them.

Aaron sighed and stood up. "I'm sorry Violet. There's nothing I can do at the moment." He moved to meet the police officer on the other side of Cerise. They exchanged a few words and Aaron pointed at the kidnapper who was being held in place by Nalia's glare.

Cerise gave off a strange feeling as she looked Violet in the eyes. _I think I may be able to help,_ she said.

Violet blinked several times. "You can talk?"

The red dragon hummed her confirmation. _I can do much more than that._ She moved her head in close to Violet's. The Faunus girl froze in fear. Ruby knew Cerise wouldn't do anything harmful, but she still had no idea what her dragon was doing besides scaring the life out of Violet.

Cerise touched her snout to the girl's forehead, then quickly took a few steps back. She lowered her head to the ground and took on the face of a dog asking for forgiveness. Ruby stared at her dragon for a few seconds, then turned to apologize to Violet for the confrontation.

Before Ruby could speak, she noticed _two _dog ears sticking out of Violet's hair. The one that was only a stump seconds before stood out, though without any hair of its own. Violet hesitantly reached up and rubbed the spot where Cerise touched her forehead. Her hand traveled up and bumped the tip of her new ear. She gasped, then ran her hand up and down her ear and tugged it a few times to make sure it was real.

Ruby looked at Cerise in disbelief. "How did you do that?" she asked out loud.

Cerise just shrugged, still keeping her head low. _I felt like I had to._

Violet looked at Cerise with an expression Ruby couldn't read. The girl got up and slowly walked over to the red dragon. Cerise slightly lifted her head off the road. Violet stopped right by the dragon's head, then wrapped her arms around Cerise' snout. "Thank you," she whispered. Cerise hummed and slowly blinked her eyes.

Ruby was so focused on the sight in front of her, she didn't see Aaron walking up to her. "The police have this criminal, and now we need to go," he said. "There's more of them out there."

The younger Rider looked up at her teacher as she stood up. "More of who?"

Aaron grimaced. "More kidnapped Faunus. It seems there's an organization in the city involved in their sale."

Ruby froze. "Sale?" She looked down at Violet and Cerise. Who would do such a thing to anyone? She turned back to Aaron. "Where?"

"2187 South Fifth Street. The police are heading there now, but if Violet's condition is anything to go by, they'll need us there." Aaron turned around and walked back to Nalia.

Ruby gulped, then placed a hand on Violet's shoulder. "I'm sorry, but we have to leave now."

Violet looked up at Ruby, fear creeping back into her eyes. "Why?" she asked with a tremble in her voice.

The young Rider knelt down to look Violet in the eyes. "That bad man has done the same thing to many others. The police will need our help to find and heal them. There are many officers here to watch you until your mommy comes to get you." Violet hesitated, then nodded. She removed her arms from around Cerise and took a few steps back.

Ruby stood up and waved an officer over. He was a little hesitant to approach Cerise, but he did make it over. "What can I do for you ma'am?" he asked.

"Violet needs someone to look after her until her mommy gets here. Would you be able to do that," Ruby took a quick look at the officer's name-tag, "Officer Bradburn?"

Bradburn took a quick look down at the Faunus girl and put on a genuine smile. "I think I can do that." He got down on one knee and started talking to Violet, trying to calm her down and to get to know her. Ruby meanwhile jumped into Cerise' saddle and strapped in. She looked over at Aaron who was already in position on his dragon's back. He nodded, then Nalia jumped into the air. Cerise followed the larger dragon immediately.

The two dragons flew with all possible speed toward the place where the Faunus were being held against their will. Ruby tried not to think about what she'd see inside. She knew she'd remember how Violet looked when she opened the trunk for the rest of her life. If her condition was any indication of how the others would be… Ruby shuddered at the thought.

They reached the building as a SWAT team arrived and was exiting their vehicle. The dragons hovered above the building, unsure if the roof could hold their considerable weight. As Ruby and Aaron jumped off their dragons, the younger Rider saw a familiar set of grizzly bear ears exit the SWAT vehicle. Ruby was glad that Dahlia was here. If the injuries Violet had were any indication of what was happening to the Faunus children, they were going to need all the medical help they could get.

As both Riders landed, they drew their respective weapons. Aaron decided to go with his shield and Redemption. "Ruby, search the building," he ordered.

Ruby stretched out her mind to the building below. "I'm counting eight men on the ground ready to take on the SWAT team, seven Faunus, and two men on the floor below us." Ruby paused as her mind noticed something different about the second man. His mind wasn't like the others. Ruby heard the words "_I need to rescue the children! Fast!_" from the man's mind. "Aaron, we may have an ally inside."

Aaron nodded as he moved to the edge of the roof and waved at the police on the ground, then he moved toward the only door on the roof. "Have you ever cleared a building before?" he asked.

"Never. I've only seen it done on TV."

The older Rider used a spell to unlock the door. "My only advice, make sure you know who you are attacking beforehand." Aaron opened the door and ran inside. Ruby followed as fast as she could, Crescent Rose wasn't exactly designed for tight spaces.

Aaron kept his shield in front white going down the stairs. The sound of gunshots started coming from the floor below. The two Riders picked up their pace until they came to another door. Throwing their stealth out the window, Aaron charged his shield into it and splintered the door.

The smell hit Ruby like a truck as she entered the large room. It could only be described as a sewer. She resisted the urge to cover her nose as she scanned the room. It was dark, the only light coming from gaps in the boards covering the windows. That's when she saw the first man using a young parrot Faunus girl, who was missing one of her wings, as a shield. The man quickly grabbed a pistol from his side and held it to the young girl's head.

"Who the hell are you!" the kidnapper yelled at the Riders. The girl shook in fear from the man holding her hostage. Tears flowed down her cheeks as she begged for the man not to hurt her. Looking at the young Faunus girl, Ruby could see that she also had many similar injuries as Violet.

"Give up! This place is surrounded!" Aaron yelled back at the kidnapper. "If you release the girl and surrender peacefully, you will not be harmed."

"Screw you!" the man yelled back. "This animal is going to be my ticket out of here. Now drop your own weapons and kick them away or I'll kill the animal." The kidnapper pressed his pistol firmly against the Faunus girl's head to prove his point.

By this point, Ruby's eyes had adjusted to the darkness and could see better details of the gun the kidnapper was using. She immediately spotted something wrong. _Aaron, that gun he is using has a very sensitive trigger, _the younger Rider warned with her mind. _Doing anything to him or the gun could accidentally cause the bullet to fire._

Ruby thought she heard Aaron swear under his breath. The older Rider raised his arms and dropped both Redemption and his shield. Ruby followed suit and dropped Crescent Rose.

"Your other weapon as well." The kidnapper demanded. Aaron growled and unslung his V4 before dropping it as well.

"Good," The kidnapper said. "Now kick them away."

Both Riders kicked their weapons away as they angrily glared at the man. "You're not going to get away with this!" Ruby growled at the man.

"Just watch me," the man said as he began to move towards a second door. The gun in his hand no longer was pressed against the young Faunus girl's head, but still pointed at the right side of her head.

"P... please h... help me," She cried.

"Shut up you filthy animal!" the man yelled at the girl.

"Let her go!" Aaron yelled at the kidnapper.

"Go suck a..."

The sound of something rolling in the vents above them caught everyone's attention. It was just then more than a hundred cyan-colored marble-sized spheres of Aura fell out of an opening in the vents above the group. As the cyan Aura marbles fell they began to transform into Aura butterflies, before flying over to six separate spots in the room. When the Aura butterflies landed they spread their wings in an attempt to protect what looked like the other kidnapped Faunus children in the room.

"I know this is one of your semblances," The kidnapper said. "Stop it now or else the animal's brains will paint the walls."

"No, I won't let you do that," A familiar voice said as an arm appeared out of the darkness and held a claymore to the kidnapper's throat. A pair of silver eyes appeared behind the kidnapper.

Ruby smiled as she realized that the second man she found with her mind was not just an ally. He was a friend.

"Release the Girl," Jad demanded. "Don't make me repeat myself."

The man just laughed. "I can just shoot this animal before you do anything to me."

"You don't get it, do you?" Jad said. "Try and shoot her, Lefty. Your gun has already been disabled in more ways than one with my semblance. And not just that." Jad raised Compassion a bit and lightly pressed the edge of the blade against the kidnapper's throat. "This claymore has the ability to slip past Aura." A slight trickle of blood appeared on Compassion's edge, causing the man's eyes to widen immensely.

Ruby smiled as she saw the kidnapper's grip on the girl loosen. Both Riders quickly retrieved their weapons and held them at the ready in case something were to happen. Jad nodded at the Riders before urging the injured Faunus girl to move to the safety of the Riders. Despite the injuries and possible broken leg, the young Faunus girl ran towards Ruby's open arms. She immediately began to cry tears of joy, knowing that she was finally safe.

"Now hand over your gun," Jad calmly told the kidnapper.

The man complied and let the Silver-eyed Huntsman-in-training take the gun from his hands.

"Good, now get on your knees and put your hand behind your head." Jad ordered as he moved Compassion away from the man's neck.

The kidnapper mumbled something as his right hand moved towards something hidden behind his back.

"What was that?" Jad asked.

"I said," the kidnapper pulled out a bloodstained knife and quickly turned to stab the silver-eyed Huntsman-in-training. "Fu- gahhhh." Only for Jad to knock the man unconscious with a quick blow from the flat side of Compassion to the head.

Jad took his Scroll out of his pocket and held it up to his left ear. "Dahlia, the building is clear. Got one detained, two friendlies, seven in need of medical attention and..." there was a slight pause. "And one DOA. Send them up."

For a moment, Ruby's breath got caught in her throat. She looked around as Jad called the Aura butterflies back to himself and reabsorbed the Aura. She saw seven more Faunus children all chained to the floors and walls. They all had similar injuries like Violet and the girl in her arms. Large cuts ran over their arms, legs and faces with part of their animal trait missing. Dread overtook Ruby as she spotted a cat Faunus girl slumped against the wall, with a large cut in her throat. She couldn't have been older than ten.

A hand grabbed Ruby's shoulder and spun her around. She found herself looking at Aaron's concerned face. "Ruby, there's nothing you can do for her now, but we can help everyone else." Ruby nodded absentmindedly, then turned back to look at the body. She was too late to save that girl, she wouldn't be late for anyone else.

As Jad was tying up the unconscious kidnapper with his semblance, The SWAT team burst into the room. The flashlights on their rifles swept the room searching for more targets. They paused on the two Riders and Jad for only a moment before moving on."Clear!" one of them eventually shouted. The officers lowered their weapons and took in the scene for what it was.

"What kind of monster would do this?" one officer asked.

"The kind that are laying on the ground dead downstairs," the first officer said.

"And this scum here," Jad said as he pointed out the unconscious man in the room.

The officer in charge nodded and put some handcuffs on the unconscious kidnapper. Before the officer escorted the man out, he turned towards his men. "Cut these Faunus loose and get them to the ambulances outside." The officers split up, one heading to each prisoner. By now, all those chained up were aware that the newcomers were there to get them out. One girl sobbed uncontrollably.

"Got some thick chains here," an officer called out. "Need some bolt cutters."

Ruby gave the injured Faunus girl in her arms to one of the officers before walking over to one of the pointed a hand at the chains binding the boy's hands and said, "Jierda." The chains broke and fell away. Ruby did the same for the leg bindings. The officer looked at Ruby, then picked the kid up off the floor. Across the room Aaron did the same for another prisoner. The two Riders continued the process for all other Faunus. Thankfully, Aaron freed the one who died so Ruby didn't have to go near her.

Ruby looked over at the Faunus girl who died one last time to see Jad use his right hand to close her eyes. "Don't be afraid anymore little one. You are safe. The monsters of this world can not harm you anymore. Your soul is now free to run with the butterflies in the sky. Don't be sad, for one day your loved ones will see you again. Now be free and be happy," He whispered before using his semblance to create an Aura blanket and covered the girl's body.

All but one of the officers grabbed a now free prisoner. The remaining one started talking to Aaron about something Ruby couldn't hear. After a few seconds, Aaron nodded and the officer moved to follow his team.

"Hey Ruby," Jad called out as he picked up the body of the Faunus girl. "Can you tell Blake I said Hi before I arrive at Beacon's Initiation next week." The young Rider nodded and watched the silver-eyed Huntsman-in-training follow the officers out of the building.

The older Rider slowly approached the younger. "We're free to go," he said. "Cerise and Nalia are waiting for us where they dropped us off."

Ruby blinked a few times. "We can't leave yet, those Faunus need our help!"

Aaron scoffed. "The police have requested that we leave the healing to the medical teams outside. Apparently your work on Violet 'tampered with the evidence.' When did someone's word stop meaning anything here?"

Ruby sighed. "It stopped when chivalry started to die." She glanced over at a pool of dried blood. "Let's get out of here," she said as she started walking toward the door Aaron busted down.

"Ruby," Aaron said forcefully, "are you going to be okay?"

Without so much as a backward glance, Ruby said almost under her breath, "Ask me again in a week." She continued to the roof without slowing down. The two dragons flew just over the roof with news vehicles above them by a few dozen feet. Ruby jumped up onto Cerise' saddle and strapped in. A few seconds later Aaron did the same for his dragon.

Cerise looked back at her Rider, concern flowing off her like a river. _**Are**_ _you going to be okay? _she asked.

Ruby sighed and closed her eyes. _I really don't know._ Cerise reluctantly faced forward again and started her flight back to Beacon

**[...]**

Aaron looked over his shoulder at Ruby. On the outside, she was holding up fine. How she was holding up on the inside though was anyone's guess. She was so happy go lucky before going into that warehouse. That could very well change after everything she saw during the day. _Hopefully she handles this better than I did,_ Aaron thought to Nalia.

The green dragon hummed sadly. _Honestly, that's not hard._ Aaron could tell she wanted to say something else, but she held back.

By that point, the four had flown into Beacon airspace. Nalia angled for the Dragonhouse with Cerise right on her tail. There was a small crowd outside the building, giving just enough space for the dragons to land. As they did, people started clapping and cheering. As Aaron dismounted, he noticed most of the people in the crowd were Faunus. The news must have run their story already.

Ruby wasn't taking the attention well. She hung her head and stood on the side of Cerise where the least amount of people would see her. Cerise nudged her Rider with her snout. That got a small smile out of Ruby and she put a hand on her dragon's snout. Still, she put her hood up before walking to the Dragonhouse. Aaron didn't know if she was acting like that because she didn't like attention, or she just wanted to be alone.

The main door to the Dragonhouse opened and the dragons and Riders walked in. The rest of team RWBY was already there. Yang looked up at her sister and her smile lit up the room. "There's my hero sister!" she yelled. The blonde jumped up and charged her sister. Yang brought Ruby into one of her crushing hugs. "I'm so proud of you. You got your first bad guy and you helped rescue so many people."

For the first time that Aaron knew of, Ruby pushed back on her sister. "Yang, please, not now."

Yang released her sister, her smile gone. "Ruby, what's wrong? I thought you'd be ecstatic."

Ruby looked down at the floor. "There was one I couldn't help."

Yang blinked several times, then scratched the back of her neck. "Oh, they haven't said that part on the news yet."

"They're getting into that now," Weiss called from her place by where the two eggs hid. She and Blake were watching the news on one of their Scrolls. Both wore unreadable expressions. "They didn't want to confirm it until the girl's parents were contacted."

Ruby sighed. "I was too late. I was too late to save that girl." She bunched her fists and closed her eyes tightly. When she opened them, they shined new determination. "Never again."

Of all the things Aaron expected, that was one of the farthest down on the list. He honestly expected Ruby to just break down. Aaron was proud of the young Rider. She was growing fast. Whether he would ever admit it to anyone but Nalia, Ruby actually surpassed him in this matter.

Blake stood up from her spot and walked over to Ruby. She surprised everyone in the room by hugging her teammate. "Thank you for putting yourself out there," she said.

Ruby hesitantly returned the hug. "Aaron and I weren't the only ones there rescuing the Faunus children. Dahlia was outside, most likely helping the doctors and Jad says 'Hi.'"

"Well I'm glad my little brother could help," Blake said.

"Besides them, you didn't know anybody in there, did you?"

The Faunus of the team shook her head and pulled away. "No. It's just that I can't stand people treating Faunus that way. It's despicable." Weiss, still sitting by the eggs, turned away. Aaron knew about her father's company and its reputation. He also knew that Weiss hated the labor policies of the company.

"Well, I'll do what I can," Ruby said rather cheerfully. "I just hope I never have to raid a slave house again."

"I think that makes all of us, Ruby," Aaron said. He turned to look at Yang. "So, anything new with the eggs?"

Yang sighed. "Not so much as a peep." She looked longingly at the spot where the eggs were hidden. "How much more time do we have?"

"Another week and it will be passed the normal time frame." Aaron looked at the unbonded girls in turn. Blake and Weiss looked disappointed, while Yang was downright dejected. "It is possible for an egg to hatch past the two weeks, but it is extremely unlikely as time goes on."

After a few seconds, Yang switched back to her normal personality. "Well, where were we in Galaxy Trek?"

"New Generation, season two, episode three," Weiss said confidently.

"No stardate this time?" Ruby teased, but she lacked her usual enthusiasm.

"I don't know them all!" Weiss said exasperated. "Not yet."

As Weiss connected her Scroll the projector Yang set up a few days ago, Aaron took another look at Ruby. He thought over how quickly she turned around from bordering depression to determination. The question was, did she really feel that way, or was it a mask?

**[...]**

**A/N: Ok that chapter made me cry while writing those emotional bits. It took me a few hours just to get through it all. And after that experience, I think Ruby deserves something to cheer her up.**

**Anyway, I have some news for you all. To celebrate getting this story to over 10k views, I'm going to try and get the next four chapters out all in August. Besides two of the four is what helped me realize how well I could write stories. **

**Second, my birthday is on Saturday. Going to see some family members and have cake and BBQ. Can't wait for it.**

**Another thing. Omg guys so many reviews! This is going to take a moment to answer them.**

**Barrera2009: Honestly, I had a hard time reading this but I get what you're trying to ask. I suggest looking up the source materials mentioned in the author notes back in chapter 5. Also I am glad you are enjoying the story.**

**Vakama: The TF2 Mercs won't be arriving until after the final episode of season 2 (Breach). As for our favorite Reds and Blues, Very soon, very very soon. I can't say how soon because I need to tie up a few things but again very soon.**

**CT7567Rules: I thought I already answered this last chapter in Hamm1999' question. I won't be adding in anymore crossovers into the storyline except one other one planned for volume 2.**

**TheSilentChloey: Glad you found your FF account again and happy you are enjoying this story. All I can say is be prepared for anything.**

**Ultimatrix bearer: Thanks! And I enjoy your enthusiasm.**

**Silverhawk88: Happy to hear that you're enjoying this story.**

**Well guys get ready for the next four chapters. Big things are going to happen and questions will be answered. Until next time!**


	25. Questions

It had been about a couple of months since Shade and Hunter had been accepted into Beacon, granted they both knew it was for some rather unfair reasons, but it was still a good experience.

They had been learning a lot about Remnant's history, the faunus revolution, the great war, and even some of the many myths and legends. One of which, to their surprise, told about a prophecy involving their Jaeger, Diamond Banshee.

Now Shade and Hunter along with the rest of team SPHR were spending their day hanging out in the library with team RWBY, along with Aaron and Elena.

"Hey Aaron, have you ever done scrapbooking where you're from?" Hunter asked.

"What's scrapbooking?" Aaron asked.

"It's where you take items and pictures that remind you of happy memories and put them in a blank book. Then you decorate it," Ruby responded. "Yang tried it once."

"Keyword: tried." Yang interjected.

"Let me guess, you managed to do it for about ten minutes before you got bored?" Shade asked.

"How'd you know?" she asked rhetorically.

"Eh, I tried it once when we first joined the-" Hunter was cut off by Shade elbowing him in the stomach.

"Er, when we joined combat school" Hunter corrected himself.

"What combat school did you attend anyway?" Weiss asked.

"Jaeger academy." Shade answered.

It wasn't a lie. 'Jaeger academy' was the actual name for the training program the PPDC used to train new Jaeger pilots. Besides it sounded cool, So they decided that even though it was a touchy subject, the true name for where they got their training would be a proper answer for that question.

"I've never heard of it, is it an independent school?" Weiss asked.

"You could say that," Hunter answered.

Weiss seemed content with that answer and returned to her homework.

"So how exactly did you all meet?" Elena asked.

"Well, that's actually kind of a long story…" Hunter trailed off.

Both Blake and Rona both perked up at hearing the incoming conversation, and Weiss also looked up from her homework.

Shade could have sworn that Blake's bow… twitched.

"These two woke up on The beach on patch, they had been attacked by Grimm and were hurt pretty bad." Yang answered.

"How did you get attacked by the Grimm?" Rona asked.

"We were flying an experimental aircraft from Atlas to Vale at the time." Shade said.

"Oh? What model?" Weiss asked.

"Not really sure, Atlas just asked us and a couple of others to pilot it as a skeleton crew." he answered.

"That's… odd." She said skeptically.

"Eh, we never really thought too much about it." Hunter remarked.

"Reason being, Hunter never thinks too hard about anything." Shade said.

Hunter just rolled his eyes.

"Are you sure it was Atlas that asked you to pilot it?" Blake asked.

"Who else could it have been?" Shade said dodging the question.

Blake eyed the two of them carefully before returning to her book.

**[...]**

The next day, Team SPHR had decided to head to the docks, Petra suggested it and the rest of them just followed.

"Ah! I love the smell of the sea!" Petra announced.

"Did you grow up on an island or something?" Shade asked.

"No, but my parents are part of the Vytal festival planning committee, so I traveled a lot as a kid." she answered.

As they kept walking Shade could have sworn he heard something like… splashing?

Then someone screamed. "HE'S DROWNING!" a voice shouted.

Before anyone else could react Shade was already diving into the water after a small boy who had fallen off the dock and drifted a good fifty feet.

Hunter wasn't far behind, with Petra and Rona following as soon as they recovered their senses.

As soon as Shade reached the kid he started to pull his head above water before swimming back to the dock. When he reached the dock Hunter reached down and grabbed the kid.

"Come on kid!" Hunter said, pulling the child out of the water.

As soon as the boy was on the docks Shade started to pull himself out of the water. Looking over he saw that the child was now coughing up water and drawing in deep breaths, a good sign that he was going to be ok.

He hadn't gotten a good look before now, the kid was probably about ten years old, and was wearing shorts and a yellow t-shirt. But the most defining trait was a pair of wolf-like ears coming out of the top of his head. He was without a doubt a Faunus.

"He just saved that kid!"

"Is he alright?"

"Why would he save an animal?"

He could hear many remarks, questions, and praises coming from the crowd that had gathered. Then exhaustion finally hit him. Shade might be able to run a marathon, but he couldn't swim for more than a few minutes. Diving into the water and then dragging someone back took its toll on him. He didn't collapse, but he quickly sat down against a street lamp exhausted.

Looking around he saw everyone… except for his teammate, Rona.

**[...]**

Being able to camouflage yourself nearly instantaneously had its uses, especially when you get into an awkward situation. Rona had always felt awkward around Faunus, so when one of her teammates saved one from drowning… a few things went through her head.

Shade had reacted faster than she had ever seen anyone react to save a Faunus. He didn't even stop to look and see who it was, he just dived in without even thinking.

Her entire family were prejudiced towards Faunus. She never knew why, only that it had something to do with the great war. She had tried her entire life to break her family's mold, she tried with every fiber of her being not to be racist towards Faunus. But she still avoided them in awkward situations. And her current situation was certainly an awkward one. Rona had used her semblance to get away from the main crowd.

Later in team SPHR's dorm room she met up with the rest of her team.

"What the heck Rona?! You ditched us!" Petra exclaimed.

"Easy Petra, she said she didn't like crowds." Hunter said.

_Among other things,_ Rona thought to herself.

"That still doesn't warrant ditching us like that!" she retorted.

"Just calm down, yelling at each other won't get us anywhere." Shade stated.

Petra only huffed before plopping down on her bed.

"Look, I'm sorry for ditching you guys, but I had some things I needed to take care of." Rona stated.

"Things more important than your teammate diving into the water to save someone?!" Petra challenged.

Rona only got up and walked out of the room.

She could understand why Petra was mad. Rona knew she shouldn't have rushed off Like she did.

"Hey, mind if we talk?" she heard Shade ask.

She turned around noticing Shade standing outside the doorway. She eyed the room that the rest of their teammates were in, and Shade caught on.

"Don't worry, Hunter will take care of Petra." he said.

"Sure, why not." she answered.

Shade started to walk towards the end of the hall.

"The hall probably isn't the best place to have a conversation." Shade said as he walked off with Rona close behind.

Walking into the courtyard the first thing she noticed was the fact that there were very few people out and about. The perfect place to have a private conversation.

"So," Shade said "what exactly _is_ going on?"

"It's something I'd rather not talk about." she answered.

"So this is going to be one of those conversations, eh?" Shade asked "Tell you what, I'll give you a piece of info about me, and you answer one of my questions."

"Deal." she said.

"Firstly, what do you want to know about me?" he asked.

She thought about this. What did she want to know about him?

"I guess… where did you grow up?" she asked. The question seemed simple enough.

"A village outside of Vale." he answered "My turn."

She was dreading what came next.

"Do you have any siblings?" he asked.

The question took her by surprise. Why did he want to know that?

"Two, an older brother and sister," she answered, "but why-?"

"What do you want to know about me?" he asked, cutting her off.

The next several minutes were spent asking each other seemingly meaningless questions. What's your favorite color? Do you have any pets?

Rona may not have realized it at first, but she was actually enjoying herself. She was talking with someone who actually just wanted to talk.

"If you don't mind me asking," he started "why did you run off earlier?"

She thought about it for a few seconds.

"It's... A long story." she said.

"Trust me when I say this, my entire being, is a long story." he chuckled.

She stared at him for a few seconds. She could tell just by looking at him that he was only looking out for his team.

"Well, when you pulled that Faunus kid out of the water…" she paused "I don't know, it's just that I've never been comfortable around them."

He nodded, but didn't say anything.

"I grew up around people who hated Faunus. My parents, my siblings, even my grandparents… especially, my grandparents." she said, shuddering.

"And what about you?" he asked.

"I… I don't know what to think," she said. "My entire life I've been told that Faunus are just animals that need to be put in cages or exterminated."

"I even thought that was the case when I first heard about the White Fang," she stated, "but I've seen how Faunus act. I know they're not animals, but, I still don't like interacting with them."

She looked at her team leader as he sat there, eyes looking straight into hers.

"Well, what are you going to do about it?" he asked.

"What?" she asked bewildered.

"You said that you've seen how Faunus act, you know they're not animals. So what are you going to do? Sit around all day and avoid every Faunus you come in contact with?" he asked "Or are you going to try and break your family's mold, and do something different"

She stared at Shade bewildered.

"I… I don't know," she said "the reason I wanted to become a huntress was so that I could help everyone, even Faunus. And maybe even change my family's way of thinking."

"Tell you what," he said, "There are more than a Few faunus in Beacon, you've even met one of them, so why don't you try and talk to them?"

**[...]**

The rest of the day was spent with Shade walking around the school with Rona most of the day while she tried to meet several of the Faunus in the school.

Rona had just finished a conversation with Velvet Scarlatina, a rabbit Faunus as well as a second year student.

"Well… that was… better I guess." Rona said.

"Hey, at least you managed to hold a conversation, that's more than Hunter can do." Shade remarked.

"Why do you say that?" she asked.

"Last time Hunter tried to interact with anyone who wasn't either related to him, or wasn't military… or I wasn't around… he got a swift punch in the gut." Shade stated.

Rona giggled a bit at the image of Hunter getting punched.

"Well, he didn't have the best-" Shade was cut off when a red blur seemed to slam into Shade.

Rona looked and saw that said red blur was a young girl, Ruby Rose, and was… hugging Shade?

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" she said over and over.

"Woah woah! Slow down Ruby, What's wrong?" Shade asked.

Ruby quickly let go of Shade "I sorta, kinda… told my entire team, Cerise, Nalia, Aaron and Elena your secret" she said.

"Ok, what? Which one?" he asked.

"Secret?" Rona asked curiously.

"The big one… the really really big one…" she said.

Rona saw that Shade suddenly had a very worried look in his eyes.

"Height and weight." he asked.

_Height and weight Of what?_ Rona thought to herself.

"280 feet, 7400 tons." Ruby answered hugging herself and wincing.

Shade groaned while putting his face in his hands.

"Wait, what in Remnant is 280 feet tall and weighs 7400 tons?!" Rona asked.

"Where is everyone?" Shade asked.

"Over at the Dragonhouse, why?" Ruby asked.

"Head on back while I get the rest of my team," Shade responded. "Looks like Hunter and I have some explaining to do." he then took off running towards his team's dorm with Rona following close behind him.

As Shade and Rona arrived at team SPHR's dorm, Shade ran inside, startling both Hunter and Petra.

"What's going on?" Hunter asked, quickly setting down the notebook he was using to help him with his homework.

"Hunter, Petra, stop whatever you're doing and head to the Dragonhouse." Shade said while digging through the dresser both he and Hunter shared, pulling out a large green duffel bag and slung it over his shoulder.

"WILL… *gasp* SOMEONE… *gasp* TELL… *gasp* ME… *gasp* WHAT ON… *gasp* REMNANT… *gasp* IS… *gasp* 280FT TALL… *gasp* AND WEIGHS… *gasp* 7400 TONS!?" Rona shouted in between deep breaths.

Hunter just covered his face and groaned, while Petra looked at both of them with a confused look on her face.

All four of them quickly left the dorm and made their way to the Dragonhouse. They found Ruby just outside the door to the building waiting for them nervously. Judging by the noises coming from inside… well, it probably wasn't pretty. As soon as Shade opened the door…

"Why is it that someone we know, who isn't clinically insane, just suddenly claims to be from some other universe?!" Weiss yelled at Yang, clearly finding the subject getting old very fast.

"Have you met Shade or Hunter? There is no way either of them is a nutjob." Yang shot back.

"Nutjob? Maybe, but clinically insane? I'm pretty sure I would know if I was." Hunter said as he entered the Dragonhouse.

"Please! Tell me this is some kind of elaborate prank!" Weiss said eyeing the duffel bag Shade had on his shoulder.

"Nope," Hunter said, emphasizing the 'P'.

Weiss just stared at both of the pilots. Shade facepalmed at Hunter's lack of subtlety but otherwise didn't react.

"What is everyone talking about?" Petra asked.

Shade sighed "Okay, Rona, Petra you both may want to sit down for this." He stated.

As both Petra and Rona sat down in comfortable spots next to the two dragons, Hunter closed the door so no one could interrupt the conversation that was about to take place.

"Well. This will get awkward fast." Hunter said.

"You think?" Shade deadpanned.

"So." Weiss said skeptically "I have heard something impossible from my team leader, and I would like it if you could please confirm or deny her claims."

"Ruby, what, exactly, did you say?" Shade asked as he set the duffel bag on the ground.

"Well… Weiss was asking about the two of you, and when she asked how we met, I told her you had washed up on Patch," she explained "And I… accidentally mentioned your really cool armor and it kinda just snowballed from there."

"Schnee-balled?" Hunter attempted.

"Hunter! Now is not the time for German puns!" Shade said.

"German?" Nalia asked, confused.

"Long story. One that actually intertwines with our current situation." Shade said flatly.

"I'm still lost on what you're all talking about." Aaron stated.

"Okay, to understand what you're about to hear, you have to believe the impossible." Hunter said. "Personally, I would prefer to show you but my phone has died and there is no charger that is compatible with it on remnant and Shade's doesn't have the app that will help with this explanation."

"Can I see this 'phone'?" Weiss asked with a confused look on her face.

Hunter reached into his pocket and pulled out a large rectangular object and handed it to Weiss.

"It's their world's version of a Scroll." Yang stated while Weiss looked over the iPhone in her hand.

"I may be able to help with this." Weiss said as she grabbed her Scroll of her spare charger she had for the Dragonhouse and put Hunter's iPhone on it. The phone suddenly turned on and started charging its battery surprising both Shade and Hunter.

"How the heck did you manage to get it to work?" Hunter asked with a shocked look on his face.

"It has the same charging port as my scroll so I just plugged it in." Weiss stated, showing her scroll. A large Schnee Dust Company snowflake was on one side of said Scroll.

"Well, while we wait for Hunter's phone to charge I guess we should start explaining." Shade sighed.

Over the next two hours Shade and Hunter explained what Jaegers and Kaiju were, and how they got to Remnant. Ruby and Yang remained quiet while Shade and Hunter were talking. Blake and Weiss just stared at them in shock. Both Petra and Rona stared at their partners while covering their mouths with their hands. Aaron, Nalia and Cerise followed along with interest. Elena on the other hand had asked a few times for the pilots to help explain some things a bit better for her to understand.

"And that's when we got to Beacon." Shade said.

"So… what do you think?" Hunter asked

"I…" Weiss stuttered.

"Yes. The answer is yes." Hunter said.

"Am I dreaming?" Blake asked. "The legend is coming true."

"No, you're not dreaming." Hunter said.

"Wow." Rona said "that was… different."

Petra just sat in silence for a few seconds.

"AWESOME!" she shouted "You two are from a different world just like Aaron, Nalia, Cerise and Elena!"

"Yeah we are." Hunter said.

"What's it like there? Do you have movies? Ooooooh what kind of Grimm are there?" she asked.

"Whoa. Slow down, first, yes we have movies, second, we, actually don't have Grimm." Shade said.

This shocked all the Remitarians in the room. "No Grimm? That place must be heaven!" Petra exclaimed.

"Still, it's worse there than here in some ways." Shade said.

"What do you mean?" Rona asked, slightly wary now.

"For one, up until twelve years ago, and even now to an extent, wars were all over the place, both world wars, Vietnam, the civil war and plenty more." He said listing off several.

"And that was _before_ the Kaiju attacked. Now entire cities have been wiped off the map thanks to them." Hunter said

"And it's only been getting worse, the Jaeger program is losing funding so it's getting harder to build them, and the Kaiju are getting bigger every time they come through the breach." Shade said.

"Not to mention things have been getting bad ever since Gypsy," Hunter remarked "we've been losing Jaeger's left and right."

Everyone in the room went dead silent. The world that both Shade and Hunter came from was this bad?

_So… You said it's been getting worse since 'Gypsy,' what do you mean by that?_ Nalia asked.

"Five years ago a state of the art Jaeger was taken down by a category three Kaiju," Shade answered "Up till then, only two or three Jaeger's had gone down, and those were older less reliable ones."

"The ones that had gone down before were Mark ones, Gypsy was a mark three." Hunter clarified.

Petra, Cerise, Nalia, Aaron, Ruby, and Yang had a blank look on their faces, while Rona, Blake, Elena and Weiss just stared in horror at the two pilots.

_Ok, so what's German?_ Cerise asked, breaking the silence.

"German is a language where we are from, originating in the kingdom of Germany. Which also brings up the fact that the name 'Jaeger' is German for 'hunter'." Hunter said with a grin on his face.

"Technically, Germany hasn't been a 'kingdom' since the middle ages." Shade stated.

"Really? I'm pretty sure it's some kind of kingdom." Hunter said.

"No, now, it's a democracy." Shade corrected "How could you not know that?"

"Eh, I'm not a geography buff." Hunter said simply.

"That's politics!" Shade exclaimed.

"Eh, same difference." He retorted.

"So… the German word for Hunter is Jaeger." Yang stated.

"Correct." Hunter answered.

"Then your name is a pun!" Yang exclaimed gleefully.

This statement was followed by a chorus of groans from everyone in the room, both mental and verbal.

"Wait, so what did you mean by 'Schnee-balled' earlier?" Yang asked.

"As a matter of fact, Weiss' full name actually means, 'White Snow' in German," Hunter answered "Hence why I tried to make a snowball pun."

This sent Yang to the ground laughing, and caused Weiss to groan.

"Well in any case, for me and Nalia, your story is believable." Aaron said "Its length alone gives it credibility."

"That's what Ozpin said." Shade stated.

"Wait, you told Ozpin about this?" Weiss asked.

"Well, He, kinda found out on his own." Hunter said.

This surprised everyone in the room. They knew the professor was perceptive, but finding out that the two were from an entirely different universe was very unique.

"Well, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, he is the headmaster for a reason." Weiss stated.

"True enough." Blake agreed.

"So… what's in the duffel bag?" Petra asked.

"I felt like not all of you would be completely convinced with our story, so I decided to show everyone here our armor." Shade said eyeing Weiss.

Hunter immediately grabbed the zipper and opened the duffel bag to reveal two sets of cyan colored Jaeger Drive-suit armor. Blake, Weiss, Petra, and Rona gasped when they were handed pieces of the armor. Some of the pieces were still damaged, but most of the armor was still intact.

"What is this?" Elena asked, pointing to the symbol on the shoulder piece of Hunter's armor.

Everyone quickly looked over at the symbol Elena was pointing at. On the shoulder piece, a large winged bird with a single star above its head and between its wings was shown.

"That," Shade said with a ton of pride in his voice "Is the Pan Pacific Defense Corps' emblem. My aunt was the one who made it in the first place. She made it to help the PPDC rally everyone together and make it the Jaeger program's symbol of hope."

"Speaking about Shade's aunt, she is also the leader of the weapons and J-Tech division of the Jaeger program." Hunter stated.

"Wow your aunt must be really cool if she can do all of that!" Petra exclaimed.

"Yeah she is." Shade sighed.

A very loud beeping noise interrupted shade before he could say anything else. Everyone turned and saw it was coming from Hunter's iPhone.

"Yes it's done charging." Hunter said grinning from ear to ear.

Hunter quickly grabbed the phone off of Weiss's spare charger and set it down on the floor in front of everyone in the room. After quickly unlocking it, he pressed a small button that allowed the screen to be projected into a hologram large enough for everyone to see. After that Hunter pressed a small app that had appeared on the holographic screen. The screen quickly changed to the same symbol on the pilot's armor and a large circle appeared around it.

"Welcome to the Pan Pacific Defense Force information app." An AI Voice said.

The circle split into 5 equal pieces, with each piece quickly changed different colors.

"So who here wants to see what Jaegers looks like?" Hunter asked.

Everyone quickly nodded their heads as Hunter pressed the top center part of the circle. The holographic screen quickly changed to a group of 23 different pictures of robots.

Above the pictures was a quote which read,

"_There are things you can't fight. Acts of God. You see a hurricane coming, you have to get out of the way. But when you're in a Jaeger, suddenly, you can fight the hurricane. You can win."_

_-Raleigh Becket, Pilot of Gypsy Danger._

"Whoa," Yang said as her eyes widened as she read the quote. "Is that true?"

Both Shade and Hunter nodded their heads. "I still remember our second time we were deployed." Hunter stated "The Kaiju just had to appear during hurricane season. That is one fight I will never forget."

"Yea it's one thing to fight a Kaiju in normal conditions, it's a whole other story when you have to fight it in a Typhoon." Shade sighed. "I'm just glad we had Striker Eureka to back us up during that fight."

"I thought they were called Hurricanes?" Hunter said eyeing his partner.

"Where you grew up they are, but not off of the coast of Sydney." Shade retorted.

_Who's Striker Eureka?_ Cerise asked.

"Ruby can you press the second to last picture for her please." Hunter asked the young Rider.

Ruby pressed her finger on the holographic projection and the picture quickly expanded showing a giant robot with the words 'Striker Eureka' on the right side of the holographic screen. At the bottom of the screen it showed a total of seven different looking creatures and two men standing next to the bottom of the foot of the Jaeger. Ruby went starry eyed as she carefully examined the Jaeger.

"Feel free to look at everything on that app," Hunter stated "We are going to head off to the gym."

And with that both pilots left the room, glad they were out of that situation they found themselves in.

**[...]**

"Man, I was not expecting that to happen today." Hunter deadpanned.

"I have to agree with you there." Shade said with an exhausted look on his face.

"You know what I miss right now." Hunter said as they entered the locker room to the gym.

"What?" Shade asked, eyeing his partner.

"Your Aunt's chocolate chip cookies!" Hunter exclaimed.

Both Hunter and Shade's stomachs started rumbling loudly at the mention of said cookies.

"You just had to mention those cookies, didn't you?" Shade said glaring at Hunter.

"They're just way too good!" Hunter shouted.

"I have to agree with you there." Shade said remembering his childhood memories. "But you do remember what happened to you the last time you had them. RIGHT?"

Hunter just nervously scratched the back of his head. He knew all too well what happened that day.

_Flashback…_

Shade's aunt, Miss Sheppard, had just made a giant batch of her famous chocolate chip cookies to celebrate both Shade and Hunter's first ever, and solo, Kaiju kill. She also had put the entire kitchen and mess hall into lock down while she baked due to the almost destruction of the entire Jaeger launch zone, mess hall and kitchen last time she baked the cookies. But there was just one chocolate chip cookie left on the serving tray and both Hunter and Cherno Alpha pilot Aleksis Kaidonovsky were fighting tooth and nail over that last cookie.

"Hey, Hey! PUT ME DOWN!" Hunter screamed as Aleksis picked up Hunter and held him high in the air making him face the ceiling. At that moment the Cherno Alpha pilot threw Hunter at full strength towards the Wei Tang brothers, knocking all three of them over as they tried to dash for the final cookie. Hunter got up as fast as physically possible and jumped Aleksis, knocking them both to the floor. Shade's aunt quickly exited the kitchen holding a pure black and white katana in her right hand, pointing the white blade at both Aleksis and Hunter's heads, while holding the final chocolate chip cookie in her left. The look on her face said it all. She was pissed. Sword or not it scared everyone in the mess hall.

"KITCHEN, NOW!" Miss Sheppard shouted, looking at the two pilots.

"Y-Yes ma'am" they both said as they rushed into the kitchen awaiting Miss Sheppard's punishment. Hunter noticed a single white rose petal floating behind Miss Sheppard's back as he went inside. "Shade, Mako, can you both get the triplets to the infirmary?" she asked while turning back to the kitchen, sheathing the black and white katana. Both Mako and Shade rushed over to the triplets, carrying them on their shoulders to the infirmary.

In the kitchen, both Hunter and Aleksis were giving each other death glares. Miss Sheppard stepped up right in front of them, angrily looking at both pilots. "WHAT ON RE...EARTH WERE YOU TWO THINKING!" she yelled at them. Both pilots tried explaining themselves but were cut off when Shade's Aunt unsheathed her katana. "Both of you are to clean every dish in here for the next two weeks starting today." she said pointing the white blade over to the sink full of dishes. "And as the second part of your punishment you both will be helping me with weapons maintenance on both of you Jaegers."

"Yes ma'am." they said to Shade's aunt.

"If any of you skip out on your punishment, I WILL Dismantle your Jaeger."

This statement shocked both pilots. But they knew that she literally meant every word. Miss Shepherd was one of the only few people in the entire Jaeger program that knew the ins and outs of every Jaeger. Hunter and Aleksis both ran to the sink and started washing the dishes.

..._Present day_

"Yea I'd rather not suffer her wrath again." Hunter said.

Shade just laughed as both he and Hunter walked out into the gym to do their usual training session.

**[...]**

Petra, Rona, Aaron, Elena, team RWBY and the dragons were still back in the Dragonhouse, discussing what they had just found out about Shade and Hunter.

"So, what do you all think?" Rona asked.

"Well, the two of them told me and Ruby as much before we came to Beacon, But they never said how bad it actually was." Yang said.

"To be honest, the whole prospect of their world is… horrifying." Weiss said.

"LOOK AT THIS JAEGER!" Ruby squealed, pointing at the holographic screen. Everyone looked and saw a huge military green Jaeger kill a Kaiju with just its fists by punching its head clean off.

"Whoa!" Yang exclaimed.

"It fights just like you do Yang." Elena stated.

"Yes it does. Kinda reminds me of when I did that to a Beowolf last week." Yang said.

"Have you found the guy's Jaeger yet?" Petra asked.

"Not yet, I'm still looking." Ruby answered going starry eyed at every Jaeger she looked at.

Ruby flipped the screen page to the next Jaeger showing Diamond Banshee. "FOUND IT!" she shouted showing the Jaeger. Sure enough on the bottom right corner of the Holographic screen was both Hunter and Shade, fully dressed in their armor.

"I… I can't believe it," Blade said with eyes as wide as dinner plates. "It's the Cyan Metal Giant from the legend."

"That makes three, right Blake?" Weiss asked.

Blake simply nodded as she continued to stare at the Jaeger on the holographic screen.

"Okay, now I see why the guys wished they had their Jaeger during that fight with Rosemary," Petra stated. "That thing looks like it can eat Awakened Beings for breakfast."

"Agreed," Team RWBY, Rona and even Elena said while nodding their heads.

Ruby started scrolling through another part of the app labeled Jaeger Program Heads of Staff. The first picture showed the Marshall standing next to the window overlooking the Jaeger launch bay with his hands behind his back.

'_Marshall Stacker Pentecost, head and leader of the PPDC's. Former Pilot of the Jaeger Coyote Tango, he and his co-pilot Tamsin Sevier took down Kaiju Onibaba in Tokyo Japan on May 15th, 2016. Later Tamsin Sevier was told that she had cancer, they both retired from being pilots while Stacker Pentecost stayed in the PPDC training new pilots of what they might face when fighting Kaiju. Eventually being promoted to his position in the PPDC today.'_

"Wait, so that's who they were talking about when I first met them?" Petra asked.

"They were talking about him?" Yang asked back.

"Yea, they said he was being all up-tight or something like that."

Ruby flipped to the next page on the holographic screen where it showed Tendo Choi standing in front his station at the LOCCENT operations center.

'_Tendo Choi, Loccent Chief and J-Tech second in command, Tendo is the man who oversees major operations when Jaegers are deployed and the person who names and classifies every Kaiju that emerges from the breach. When he is not working in the LOCCENT, he is helping the J-Tech Chief fixing and maintaining the Jaegers.'_

"Wow, he must have a lot of work on his hands if he does all of that." Rona said

"He has my respect if he can do all of that." Weiss said.

"Of course you do." Yang said as she and Blake rolled their eyes.

Ruby flipped to the next page showing Dr. Hermann Gottlieb standing in front of his chalk board and a model of the breach off to his side.

'_DR. Hermann Gottlieb, the mathematician of the PPDC's science team. He is the one who wrote the code for all the mark-1 Jaegers. He is currently researching the exact nature and physics of the breach, even recently coming up with the model for when the next Kaiju emerge from the breach and where they will attack.'_

"Looks like we just found the guy for Professor Peach's next date." Yang said jokingly.

"I doubt it Yang. It says here he already has a wife." Aaron said.

Everyone laughed at the statement. "Well let's see who's next." Ruby said as she flipped the page showing Newt. Newt was standing next to an autopsy table with a giant Kaiju organ on top of it, that he was dissecting with smaller pieces scattered around the table and floor.

'_DR. Newton (Newt) Geiszler, part of the PPDC's science team. He studies the Kaiju themselves by dissecting Kaiju organs and remains to find out how they work and more importantly, what their weaknesses are. Also, his research saved millions of people and millions of dollars by finding out how to treat and neutralize the toxic factor of the Kaiju blood, also known as Kaiju Blue.'_

Both Petra and Rona's eyes widened in surprise.

"He did that?" Rona asked.

"Looks like it." Petra responded.

Weiss just looked at Newt's picture before getting up and ran to the nearby bathroom in the Dragonhouse to empty her stomach. Yang, Petra and even Cerise laughed at Weiss's predicament.

"HAHAHA ohhh, so it looks like Weiss can't handle gross stuff all that well." Yang said, wiping a tear from her eye.

"She will have to get used to it if she wants to be a Huntress." Blake said. "Coco did say that next semester professor Peach is making us dissect some frogs."

"Please don't remind me." Rona said with a disgusted look on her face.

"So Ruby who is n…" Yang paused as she looked over to her sister. Ruby's eyes had widened in shock, tears flowing down her cheeks and her right hand covered her mouth. Ruby's entire body was trembling as she looked at the next person on the app.

"Ruby what's wrong!" Yang said with deep concern in her voice. She turned to see who her little sister was looking at and got the biggest shock of her life.

"M...Mom?"

**[...]**

**A/N: Surprise cliffhanger!**

**I have to admit a couple of things here.**

**First off I have been actually looking forward to this chapter ever since I started this story. I rewrote most of this chapter to test my writing skills when it was originally in Jaegers and Grimm. After showing it to Rocket, he made me the beta reader for that story which has been crossed over into this one since chapter 3. It brings back a lot of memories rewriting this chapter again so it can fit into RWBY - Warriors of Remnant with the involvement of Elena, Aaron and both Nalia and Cerise.**

**Second, after reviewing the source material and how long it is. I've decided that instead of the original planned rapid fire chapters I mentioned last chapter, I'm combining the four chapters into two chapters.**

**Anyway onto the Reviews!**

**barrera2009: I have two answers. The Reds and Blues timeline is from between seasons 12 and 13 as it is in the original source material. As for the TF2 mercs yes I will. They are not as fun to write if they don't have those abilities.**

**ErrorSans13: First, Thanks. Second, Happy Birthday, even though it already happened by the time this chapter is uploaded. Third, thank you. I'm sure you're going to enjoy the rest of the story as it comes out.**

**TheSilentChloey: Yes I agree, but after this chapter it is well worth it.**

**Hamm1999: Hahaha, That is already going to happen with some very funny results.**

**Ultimatrix bearer: Thank you.**

**I hope you all enjoyed this new chapter and I can't wait for everyone to read the next one. Get ready. The long wait is almost over.**


	26. and Answers

_Twelve hours earlier._

Earth 2024, Year 11 of the Human/Kaiju war.

Time: May 31st, 06:00 ADT

Location: Anchorage Shatterdome

Nickname: The Ice Box

Stacker Pentecost was sitting at his desk in an almost empty office. Two months ago he lost two of arguably His best pilots, and a Mark 5 Jaeger.

Problem was, they weren't destroyed. They had been searching the battleground for the past two months, and had recovered nothing of Diamond Banshee, not even a scrap of metal.

Even stranger, the Kaiju remains had been found the afternoon after the battle. Fifteen miles from where the fight took place. This confused the Marshall greatly. He knew one of the pilots of Diamond Banshee well, Shade Royal.

Shade was only two years younger than his adopted daughter Mako. Him and Hunter Green were the youngest pilots to ever enter the Jaeger program. The reason Stacker knew Shade so well was because of the fact that Shade's aunt, Summer Shepherd, had saved his life.

**[...]**

It was a week after the first Kaiju attack, Stacker was in a convenience store just outside of Los Angeles California on his way to the refugee camp setup outside of San Francisco. Then the worst happened. Three armed gunmen entered the store and ordered everyone to the ground.

Everyone, except a dark haired woman obeyed.

The gunman who spoke pointed his rifle at her."I said get on the ground!" He yelled.

"Listen," the woman stated "you have two choices, you can put the guns down and turn yourselves into the authorities… or, I can turn you in myself."

The gunman looked at each other confused. Did this woman just threaten them? They were armed to the teeth! And all she had was a tripod case! One gunman pulled the trigger. He Probably still regrets that decision to this day. Instead of the bullet entering her skull, the bullet was instantly blocked by a long white blade.

"What kind of magic was that?!" a gunman asked.

But before he knew it all the guns were cut in half, it almost looked as if the woman was teleporting.

"Well then," she said as she put her sword back into its case, "you still want me to bring you in?"

Near instantaneously, all of the gunmen rushed out of the store scared for their lives. The woman only walked out the back exit.

**[...]**

That was almost eleven years ago. Stacker had initially gone looking for her, only to find that, legally speaking, she didn't exist. He eventually found her two years later, trying to raise a child that wasn't her own.

He had just adopted Mako a few weeks earlier so he could understand the trouble she was going through. He eventually managed to get her a job in the Jaeger program, and things just snowballed from there.

She was talented and rose through the program quickly, however when the position as a pilot was offered, she turned it down. She had a nephew to care for, and while she knew they were not technically related, Stacker knew that she felt some sort of… duty to look after Shade. In any case, she soon had the position of designing Jaeger weapons. Something very few had considered before her. And eventually becoming the lead J-tech officer in the program.

Still, he doubted she was dealing with the loss of her adopted nephew well.

For this reason he had called her up to the office. The two of them were close, but she had said before that she had a husband and daughters out there looking for her. And she was the most stubborn woman he had ever met. Unfortunately, they had been searching for years and turned up empty handed. But one thing he never understood, was that she still held out hope.

The door opened and Summer came inside. She wore a plain work vest with a grey t-shirt and Brown work pants. She had silver eyes and, strangest of all, had red accents on her hair. And he often wondered how she found the time to dye it.

"You wanted to see me Marshal?" she asked.

She almost never called him 'Marshal' and she looked like She hadn't slept in days. He knew his suspicions were correct.

She was not taking this well.

"When was the last time you slept, Summer?" he asked.

"I'll sleep when we find my nephew." she answered.

He was afraid of this. Her stubborn side had taken over.

"We never saw the wreckage of Diamond Banshee. They're still alive out there." She stated "we found the Kaiju remains fifteen miles west of where the battle took place..."

Stacker noticed how she ended her sentence, there was something else.

"And?" he asked.

Summer sighed. "Something else killed that Kaiju."

Stacker actually stopped to think about her statement. Something else killed the Kaiju? The absurdity of the idea was not as prominent as one might expect.

"And why do you think something else killed that Kaiju, what could have killed it?" he asked intrigued as to where she was going with her statement.

She pulled up a chair and sat down across the desk from him.

"I never told you where me and Shade were from did I?" she said.

"No, you never did," he said. And It suddenly occurred to him that she never had told him. Why was that?

"Well… I'm gonna have to ask you something before I tell you. Decaf or regular?" she asked.

He was utterly confused, she knew he hated decaf, and what did coffee have to do with anything? "Regular, but why-?" He started to ask but was interrupted by Summer.

"This'll be a two pot explanation," she answered.

As soon as she said that he knew she was serious. They always measured how big a problem was, or how long something was going to take, in how many pots of coffee they were going to need. But before he could ask for coffee to be brought up to his office, Summer simply… vanished. She was gone. Only a few white rose petals remained where she was. Then a few seconds later, there she was again, holding two pots of coffee one in each hand.

"Yeah," she said, putting the pots to one side of the desk "it's complicated."

The Marshall was dumbstruck. Did she just disappear in the blink of an eye? And then reappear seconds later?

**[...]**

Summer had just used her Semblance in front of someone from earth for the first time in years.

"What..." was all Stacker could force himself to say.

"Well at least you're not trying to kill me," Summer said "that's a plus."

In truth Summer said it to try and lift the mood and maybe take Stacker out his shock.

"So… where do I start?" she asked.

**[...]**

Summer had been friends with Samuel Schnee for a while. Well, when he was attending Signal Academy of course. His wife, Silvia Schnee was visiting Vale that week with her son, Shade Schnee.

"Hey, Summer? There's supposed to be a storm in the path we're taking back to Atlas, and Samuel suggested you come along for some 'professional protection' as he put it." she said "to be honest he's probably just worried about me and Shade."

Of course Summer had accepted immediately, her and Sam had been friends since Signal. And besides, she'd be gone less than a week.

Oh how wrong she was.

A day after being out at sea, Silvia had always loved boats for some reason, the storm hit. They were too far from Vale to turn back, and the captain assured everyone that the ship was safe.

Still, Summer was on her guard. This much negative emotion coming from everyone on board was bound to attract Grimm. And she was right.

**[...]**

"Momma I'm scared." the five year old Shade said.

"It's okay Shade, the storm will be over by the time we get home." Silvia told her son.

"You know, I'm starting to think coming out here now was a bad idea." Summer told her friend.

"The captain says the storm is nothing to worry about," Silvia said "So why are you so on edge?"

Summer looked out the window of the room as the boat rocked with the rain and waves. "Something about this trip just doesn't sit right with me," Summer answered "maybe I'm just paranoid."

"Is it because of that Grimm sensing ability that you and your mother have?" Silvia asked.

However before their conversation could continue, the captain's voice came through the speakers in the room. "We got a massive Grimm up here! All Huntsmen get up here!" he said in a panicked voice.

"Wait, what!?" Summer was caught completely off guard by the announcement the ship's captain gave. _How could a __**massive **__Grimm get so close without her knowing about it?_ Summer asked herself as she grabbed Sun's Light and teleported to the deck above. What she saw would be burned into her mind forever. It was the biggest Grimm anyone on the ship had ever seen! It was certainly bigger than a Leviathan.

However it was so different from Grimm. It had a reptilian-like body, and Instead of being black and red like most Grimm, it was a greenish color, and had yellow lines all across its body.

"What is that thing?!" someone on deck asked.

"No clue! Ready main cannons!" the captain ordered.

The cannons were quickly moved into position and started firing at the massive Grimm. Summer transformed Sun's Light into its sniper form and started to fire at the Grimm. The problem was that the creature was so big that nothing they threw at it did any damage.

Suddenly, one of Summer's rounds managed to hit the Grimm's eye, causing it to roar in pain. Summer knew this thing could tear this ship apart, and there was nothing they could do about it. She teleported down into the hold.

"Silvia, we need to get you and Shade to a life boat! There's no way this ship will make it!" she said.

Silvia grabbed Shade and ran up towards the deck, Summer not far behind. When they reached the deck, it was chaos. Everyone was running back and forth either firing cannons or readying lifeboats. Silvia looked up at the massive creature. She froze and her face went pale. The creature was now looking down at them, it's lizard-like face had no Grimm mask. And this only added to the fear everyone on board felt.

"Silvia! Get to the lifeboat!" Summer ordered.

Silvia snapped out of her shock and carried Shade to the boat. She helped Shade climb in before turning around to see if there was anyone else, but before she could get into the boat the giant creature drove one of its massive claws into the ship, tearing it in half. The lifeboat suddenly fell loose from the boat separating Silvia from Summer and Shade.

"SILVIA!" Summer shouted.

"MOMMA!" Shade screamed.

Summer scanned the wreckage looking for her friend to no avail. The storm rocked the lifeboat back and forth, almost flipping it, but for whatever reason the massive creature that had attacked them was gone.

"MOMMA!" Shade yelled, desperately searching for his mother.

Before Summer could shout again the lifeboat finally flipped over from the rocking waves.

Summer reached out for grabbing Shade as soon as the boat flipped. She pulled him close, hoping against hope that they would survive. She somehow managed to get her head above water and grabbed onto a lifeboat. As she hauled Shade onto the boat, she looked around and noticed that none of the wreckage was visible. And she had no way of knowing where they were.

Over the next several days they were adrift. The only food they had consisted of emergency rations in the compartment in the lifeboat. Fortunately by some miracle, she still had Sun's Light at her side.

Three days passed with no sign of land or airship. But there were also no Grimm, and Summer could only be glad for that.

On the fourth day the impossible happened. Summer spotted a small fishing boat. Drawing Sun's Light she transformed it into its sniper form and loaded a burn Dust round into the barrel. Aiming upwards she fired it hoping it would act as a flare. The bullet glowed in the sky before exploding about a hundred feet in the air. Thankfully the fishing boat noticed and started turning in their direction. Summer finally believed she would see her family again.

However her expression turned dark when she remembered Shade. There was no way of knowing if his mother was still alive. And she doubted Samuel would be able to cope with losing his wife, after learning that Shade would most likely be their only child. Losing her now would probably break him.

When the boat made it to their location she was confused at the boat's design. shouldn't a boat all the way out here have cannons of some kind to deal with Grimm?

"Hey there! Come on and get on board!" a man whom she assumed must be the captain yelled from the deck.

Summer helped Shade onto the fishing boat before climbing up herself.

"What are you two doing all the way out here? And in a lifeboat!" the captain asked.

"We were attacked by something. I have no idea what it even was." Summer answered.

the captain rubbed his chin as if in deep thought.

"How long have you been adrift?" he asked.

"We've been separated from our ship for four days now." she answered.

The captain nodded as if he expected this. "Well at least the story of you getting attacked checks out. Whatever attacked you is now tearing up the coastline." The captain said, "has been for the past three days."

This terrified her. It made sense that that monster would find its way to the coastline. She just hoped it stayed away from Patch. who knows how long that thing would take to kill.

"Look, we can get you two to Los Angeles but that's the closest city," he said "It's about eighty miles west of here. From there you should be able to contact the coastguard and try to find the rest of your ship."

"Are we gonna find Momma?" Shade asked her.

"We're going to try. Don't worry" Summer said.

"The closest place with a dock should be fine." she told the captain.

He nodded before going into a room on the other side of the ship.

Summer decided to think about their predicament. They were on their way to a coastal city, probably just an over sized village, called 'Los Angeles'. She had never heard of the city before, and since she knew most of the villages close to Vale, that eased her worries just a bit. but then she started noticing something strange. No one on board the ship carried weapons. She would have been less confused if the boat had cannons or there was a huntsman on board, but there were no cannons, and she had yet to see anyone that resembled a huntsman. Eventually one of the crew members approached her.

"So, I assume you haven't heard yet?" he asked her.

"It depends on what you're talking about." Summer answered.

"Well, you've been at sea without a radio for at least four days, so I'm pretty sure you haven't been up to speed." he said.

"You're probably right, mind filling me in?" She asked.

"Well, it hit San Francisco three days ago, who knows how they're holding up, and so far Washington's thrown everything they have at it, but tanks, fighters, and guns have only managed to slow it down." he explained "They say if it doesn't go down soon they may just have to draw it out and drop an ICBM onto it."

Summer wasn't sure what an 'ICBM' was, but she guessed it was probably a big explosive of some kind. Atlas never really liked showing off their best tech too often.

"How long till it reaches Mistral?" she asked out of curiosity.

"Not sure where that is so no clue, but if it's inland it's probably safe." he said.

She froze at hearing this. How had he never heard of Mistral? Whatever she was going to say next was drowned out by Shade tugging on her cloak.

"Where's Momma?" he asked with tears welling up in his face.

She kneeled down and hugged Shade. "I don't know, but don't worry, we'll find her." Summer said.

A few minutes later the fishing boat docked at what had to be the biggest dock and city Summer had ever seen.

"Never been to the big city huh?" the captain asked.

"Never any this big." she admitted.

She knew she had to keep calm, but this place was WAY bigger than Atlas, and that was the biggest city on Remnant! Summer started to panic and grabbed Shade before teleporting to a secluded area. There was no way she was anywhere on Remnant, she'd been to almost all the major cities on the planet! And this place was bigger than anywhere she'd ever seen!

She spent the next few days with Shade, teleporting around the city. Suffice to say no one here had their aura unlocked. And she never found any huntsman either. She knew she'd have to get some money for food and clothing soon.

As time went on, things began to add onto the growing mental list that proved that Shade and herself was no longer on Remnant. Reason one, she had found a library and found that there was no mention of anything on Remnant. The second reason was the fact that everyone she passed looked at her clothing as if it was foreign.

After about a week passed, she had gotten Shade and herself some new clothing as well as a case for Sun's Light. No one she found carried a weapon, except for maybe the occasional pistol or knife.

One day, she and Shade were in a convenience store when it got robbed. She quickly subdued the robbers and made her own getaway.

**[...]**

The Marshall listened to her words. The story was so long and detailed, that fact alone gave her story credibility. But also her strange ability to teleport also gave it even further credibility, though it still confused him.

"And that's pretty much up till you offered me a job, I hadn't been able to keep one for longer than a month due to my lack of credentials." she finished.

"You still haven't explained your ability to teleport. Would you mind explaining that?" Stacker asked.

"People on Remnant have a unique trait called Aura. It's a lot like a force field in the movies." she said "Aura further allows us to use an ability unique to each person, Semblance. Some people can create copies of themselves, others can absorb hits and hit back with greater force. My Semblance is point to point teleportation."

Stacker nodded "So I assume Summer Shepheard is not your real name?" he asked.

"Summer actually is my first name, but my last name is Rose. Summer Rose." she answered.

"So you believe Shade is alive, and quite possibly in some other alternate dimension?" Stacker asked.

"The more I think about and the more I dig, the more likely I think it is." she answered.

"And what evidence have you found to prove such a thing?" he asked.

"The video feed." she stated flatly.

Stacker had almost forgotten about it. When they lost radio contact with Diamond Banshee They switched to a live video feed. The video was covered in static, and you could only make out distinct shapes every now and then.

"How did you manage to get anything from that?" Stacker asked.

"I thought I saw and felt something the first time. Something familiar. I wasn't sure about it until I went through it frame by frame, but now I know," she said "that thing wasn't a Kaiju. It was a Grimm. Specifically a Grimm called a Leviathan."

"And how do you suggest that this is some kind of… 'creature of darkness'?" he asked.

"When I went through the frames I found this." she handed Stacker a picture that was apparently a single frame of the video. The picture showed a Kaiju, but it was black and had a white mask on its face.

"I think this thing killed the Kaiju before going after Diamond Banshee. And I also think it dragged Shade and Hunter to Remnant somehow." she stated.

"You had just mentioned that you felt something familiar when Diamond Banshee fought this… Leviathan Grimm. Care to explain that?"

Summer sighed. "When I turned fifteen, my mother began training me to learn how to use a genetic ability that my mother, myself and if I am right my youngest daughter have to sense Grimm. It's an extremely rare ability event for those from Remnant. Apparently, from what I have learned, only those that have silver eyes have this ability."

Stacker sat silently for a few seconds. "So it's just your family that has this ability?" he asked.

Summer shook her head. "No, on my last mission before I arrived here on Earth. I had rescued a young boy that was the same age as my oldest daughter from enslavement. He also has silver eyes as well, but at the time I doubt he could sense any Grimm."

"Is that why you went out of your way to help LaRue and Lanphier rescue LaRue's children?"

Summer simply nodded.

Stacker sighed. "Promise me that you won't do anything like that again without informing me first."

Summer smiled. "Sure thing."

A sudden electronic ring from a screen on Stacker's desk alerted the two of an incoming call from the LOCCENT control room. Stacker accepted the call. "What is it?"

"Sir!" Tendo Choi responded. "We just got a message from the UN. They want a sudden mandatory meeting in twelve hours."

"Alright," Stacker sighed. "Tell them we will be there." He turned to face Summer. "Go get some rest. You're going to need it."

**[...]**

_Present time._

Yang had just gotten the biggest shock of her life. Her step-mother, Summer Rose, whom everyone thought had died, turns out to be alive in another world.

"M...Mom?" she asked in confusion as a single tear rolled down her cheek. The blonde brawler walked over to her younger sister's side to get a better view of the holographic picture of her mother. Sure enough there stood in front of an office workbench that was covered in Jaeger and weapon blueprints. Her white cloak hung on the chair behind the workbench. But what confirmed that it was her mom in the picture was Sun's Light in a display case that hung just off to the side on the back wall. More tears began to flow down her cheeks as Cerise walked over and began to comfort the two sisters.

"What's going on?" Weiss asked as she exited the bathroom while cleaning the side of her mouth with a wet paper towel.

Ruby pointed at the picture of her mom on Hunter's phone.

'_Summer Shepherd, Jaeger weapons and J-Tech chief, Summer oversees all Jaeger repairs, upgrades, and maintenance. She is also the inventor for 88% of all the Jaeger weapons that are used to kill Kaiju. Her most famous Jaeger weapon invention is the plasma ion cannon used by both Gypsy Danger, Crimson Typhoon and Diamond Banshee. Summer Shepherd is also known as the person who started the Great Cookie Civil War in the Jaeger program which ended up a three way fight between Striker Eureka, Echo Saber, and Hydra Corinthian._'

"What does she have to do with you two crying your eyes out?" Weiss asked "especially you Yang."

Yang said nothing as she reached into one of Cerise' saddle bags and pulled out Ruby's doggy face pillow. She turned it over and unzipped a zipper on the side. The blonde brawler reached in and quickly found what she was looking for. Yang pulled out a large scrapbook that was hidden inside with the words 'memory is the key' on the front in bold letters. She grabbed the book and opened it up to the first page before showing it to Weiss. On that page were five more pictures of the same person on Hunter's phone with much younger versions of Yang and Ruby. There was even a picture of her holding a one month old Ruby while the both of them were sleeping. At the top of the page, was the words 'Super Mom' written in bold letters and white roses.

Weiss did a double take as she looked back and forth between the scrapbook and the picture on the phone. "H..How is this possible?" Weiss asked in shock.

"I...I don't know." Ruby answered as she wiped the tears off her face.

"Do you think Shade knew that his aunt was your mom?" Elena asked.

"I need to talk to him." Yang said in a firm voice "Where are they again?"

"They said they would spend the rest of the day training." Petra answered.

Yang got up and grabbed both Hunter's iPhone, causing the holographic screen to deactivate and turn on the normal one, and the scrapbook out of Weiss's hands. She walked out of the room, followed by everyone else, and headed towards the closest training hall.

**[...]**

Back on Earth, Stacker Pentecost, Summer Rose, Hercules Hansen, and Tendo Choi had just finished a group call with the world leaders announcing that in eight months they would pull their funding from the Jaeger program.

"What do we do now?" Tendo asked.

Stacker looked at all of them. Tendo, He'd been the chief LOCCENT manager for as long as the Jaeger program had been alive.

"We only have a few Jaeger's left, and we just lost our biggest funding pool." Herc said.

Herc Hansen, A close friend to the higher ups in the program, he and his son have now been piloting the only remaining Mark five Jaeger, Striker Eureka.

"We don't need em." Stacker replied.

"He's right, We just have to go on the offensive for a change." Summer stated.

Summer Rose, A puzzle to even Stacker himself, but still a close and trusted friend nonetheless. That morning she had told him that she was from an entirely different universe, and he was inclined to believe her.

"Herc, gather up the rest of the Jaeger's and make sure they get to Hong Kong." Stacker ordered "Tendo, track down as many intact Jaegers and pilots as you can."

They both nodded and walked off to fill their respective orders.

"You think we can pull this one off?" Summer asked.

"If we don't, we'll all die." he answered.

**[...]**

The sound of two wooden bo staffs clashing against each other filled the training hall. Shade and Hunter were sparing against each other to build upon their pilot compatibility and combat skills. However, Shade's fluid motions were being hampered by something on his mind.

"Geez Shade, what's got you so riled up?" Hunter asked as he leaned back to dodge an overhead horizontal swing from his partner.

"I've been worried about everyone back home is all," Shade responded as he sidestepped a lunge from Hunter.

"That I can understand," Hunter said as he used his bo staff to block a downward right to left swing.

"Your family lives in Louisiana," Shade stated as he jumped over a low swing. "But my aunt and Mako are probably still in one of the Shatterdomes or something."

"I don't know what to tell you, I have it easy, everyone I know is inland" Hunter said as both pilot's bo staves stuck each other. "But I know how you feel about Mako, she's like a sister to you right?"

"Yep, true enough. Truth be told I probably don't have anything to worry about." Shade stated "Stacker's way to over-"

He was interrupted when Yang punched through the doors to the training hall they were in. Her hair ablaze as she entered the building. He had no idea why she was so mad, but then again Hunter probably did something to her hair again.

"You better run Hunter, Yang's going to kill you now." Shade chuckled.

"What the heck did I do?" Hunter retorted.

"SHADE!" Yang yelled.

This took the two pilots by surprise. What did Shade of all people do?

Yang walked up to Shade and shoved both Hunter's phone and what looked to be a scrapbook into his hands. Shade finally looked at Yang and noticed the look on her face. It was a face mixed with fear, anger, worry and what was the most confusing, hope.

"Why are you showing me the picture of my aunt?" He asked, looking at the picture on the phone.

"First page." Yang demanded as she pointed to the scrapbook.

Shade opened up the book. And when he saw what, or rather, _who_ the pictures were of. His blood ran colder than Atlas during a winter blizzard.

"H-how, do you have a picture of my aunt Summer?" he asked.

Just then, the rest of team RWBY as well as Rona, Petra, Elena and Aaron ran into the room. The two dragons stayed outside but they listened in on the conversation.

Shade stood there, dumbstruck. How on earth did someone, FROM ANOTHER UNIVERSE! Have a picture of his aunt?!

"T-that's my… my mom." Yang said.

Shade simply stared blankly at Yang.

"Wait a minute. Hold on!" Hunter demanded "Are you saying that Shade's aunt is from Remnant?! And on top of that, she's your mom?!"

"Is she… alive?" Yang asked.

"Yes, She's been raising me for the past twelve years." Shade said, still in partial shock.

"Okay, there is no way I can do this, you two sort out family issues, I'm getting a headache." Hunter said before walking out of the room.

**[...]**

"My brain…" Hunter muttered to himself.

"You Okay?" Petra asked, who had followed him out of the room.

"Yeah, seriously though, my head hurts, got any aspirin?" Hunter asked.

Petra just looked at him confused.

"Er, stuff to make headaches go away." he clarified remembering that not everything was the same on Remnant.

"Oh! I have some Ache-aid, would that help?" she asked, pulling out a bottle of pills from her jacket pocket.

Hunter eyed them skeptically before taking the bottle and examining it. "Huh, looks like Tylenol." he muttered. "Out of curiosity, why do you keep these on you?"

"Migraines, I've had em ever since I was a kid." she answered.

Shrugging, he opened the bottle and consumed one of the pills. Yep, sure tasted like Tylenol.

"Should kick in in a few minutes." she stated.

"Thanks." he said.

**[...]**

Back in the gym, things were not so calm. Yang snapped, eyes turning red with rage, and was yelling at Shade.

"Why the hell didn't you tell us!"

"How could I have known!" Shade responded, scared of what was going to happen.

"How could you have not known! Ruby looks almost exactly like our mother!" Yang yelled back, her rage nearing a boiling point.

"You didn't have any pictures of her at your house that either me or Hunter could see," Shade calmly said. "We honestly thought Teresa was your mom until we weren't in enough pain that we could think straight."

Yang's right eye twitched for a split second. She grabbed the wooden bo staff and tore it out of his hands. With one hand she crushed it in half before using the same fist to try and punch a hole in Shade's face. The two of them had brawled from time to time, but Yang had always come out on top. In the meantime Shade was desperately trying to dodge her attacks.

"You. Hold. Still!" She said through gritted teeth.

Shade didn't have his weapons on him so there was no way he could go on the offensive. He couldn't hit her, that would only make her stronger, and he hadn't discovered his Semblance yet, so he had no advantage.

Soon Shade tripped on a spot Yang had punched, leaving him open for Yang to attack.

"Shade!" Rona yelled.

Yang jumped up ready to slam her fist into Shade. The ensuing explosion of dust caused a large smokescreen throughout the room, blocking the combatants from view.

When the smoke cleared, everyone saw that Yang's fist had made contact with a dinner plate sized black glyph which was being projected by Shade as he held up one arm.

"..."

Everyone was silent. No one said anything. The only noise was that of a ringing sound emanating from Shade's glyph.

"What?!" Weiss said shocked.

"No way, He unlocked his Semblance." Rona said.

"Isn't that your Semblance Weiss?" Elena asked.

Weiss simply remained silent.

"Umm… could you… get off?" Shade asked warily.

Slowly, Yang's eyes shifted back to their normal lilac color. After a few seconds she proceeded to get off of Shade. He lowered his arm as she did so, and proceeded to get up. Once he was on his feet, Yang punched him in the face.

"Ahhh! What was that for?!" he said panicking a bit.

Yang only glared at him before walking off. Ruby stepped in front of her.

"Yang… what's going on?" she asked warily.

"It's… mom. She's alive and Shade didn't tell us." she stated.

Ruby's face lit up like she had just gotten a plate full of cookies and strawberries placed in front of her. Then her expression turned to that of confusion.

"But… how?" she asked.

"I don't know." Yang replied.

"I have a headache." Shade said, rubbing his head.

Just then Hunter walked into the room.

"Here-o buddy'o! Take one a these! Knock that ache clear outta the park!" Hunter said, stumbling towards his partner.

"Hunter are you okay?" Rona asked.

"Juuuuuust fiiiiiiine." he replied.

He turned and held out a bottle in Shade's general directions.

Shade took the bottle and quickly turned to look at the ingredients.

Acetaminophen. Or, by it's more recognizable name, Tylenol.

Shade let out an audible sigh. That was one thing that he never told anyone, the only reason he even knew about it due to a very unique, and embarrassing, situation. Hunter was allergic to the stuff in a very weird way.

"Alright, who gave him these?" Shade demanded.

Petra, who was now standing in the doorway, raised her hand.

"That would be me, why? Is he not supposed to have headache medicine?" she asked.

"No, medicine is fine. But for future reference, if we survive the rest of today, never, ever give him this stuff." Shade stated.

"Whoooo!"

Everyone turned around to see that Hunter was, somehow, hanging from the ceiling.

Shade just facepalmed, Ruby, Elena, Yang and Aaron were trying to figure out how on Remnant he got up there, Weiss had officially passed out from the pure insanity of their situation, Blake was nowhere to be found, Rona was rubbing her temples, and Petra was calling for Hunter to get down.

"You get down here!" she demanded.

"Sorry! I'm kinda stuck!" Hunter answered.

"Has this happened before?" Aaron asked Shade.

"Once" he answered "and I still to this day cannot get that image out of my head."

_Flashback…_

_Hunter was sitting on top of Diamond Banshee's nuclear reactor chest piece. In boxers. Drinking a coke. And singing._

_...Present day_

Shade shuddered at the memory of his partner's insanity.

"Oh my darlin, oh my darlin, won't you come and sing with me~" Hunter sang. Still hanging from the ceiling "Come on Petra! Sing with me!" Hunter continued to sing whilst swinging back and forth from his current position.

"Nope. Never giving him that stuff again." Petra agreed.

**[...]**

It had taken them a good thirty minutes to get Hunter down from the ceiling, and a couple of hours to finally get him into a position where his team could deal with him.

He was currently toying with one of his shotgun shells off in a corner of their dorm where Petra had promised to keep an eye on him. A knock on the door grabbed everyone but Hunter's attention. Shade opened the door to see Weiss standing in the doorway.

"Excuse me Shade, but, could I talk to you for a second?" she asked.

Shade looked to Rona Who just shrugged, then to Petra who was too preoccupied trying to keep Hunter from eating his shotgun shell.

"Eh, sure." he agreed, stepping out into the hall before closing the door behind him "What's up?"

"It's about… your Semblance." she stated.

"What about it?" he asked, not sure where she was going with this.

"It's just… it looked _exactly_ the same as mine." she said.

This surprised Shade. Weren't all Semblances different? In at least one way or another?

"What do you mean?" he asked.

Weiss responded by holding out her hand and summoning a white glyph.

"Are you able to do this?" she asked.

Holding out his hand, he focused all his aura into one spot, hoping for a similar reaction to that of Weiss's. After a few seconds, a much smaller glyph appeared in Shade's palm.

Shade could have sworn that Weiss's eyes tripled in size.

"T-that's… i-impossible." she stuttered.

"What?" he asked, confused.

"Your Semblance _is _exactly the same as mine." she said.

"I… guess it's a coincidence?" Shade said.

She shook her head "It's more complicated than that," she stated "you're not the only person to have an identical Semblance to me, at least three other people do."

This confused Shade even more. How on Earth could _five_ people have the _exact _same Semblance?

"My Semblance is hereditary." she explained "My mother, my sister, and my uncle and I all have an identical Semblance."

Shade's eyes went wide. There was no way he and Weiss were…

"The only way you could have an identical Semblance to me, is if you were related to me." Weiss said.

"But… that's impossible! I'm from another dimension! How on Earth could I be related to you?!" Shade demanded.

"I have no idea." she stated.

Shade rubbed his head trying to process what had happened. First, he found out that somehow his adoptive aunt was from remnant, and was the mother of the first two people he met. And second, he was apparently, If the situation was to be believed, related to someone from remnant.

"We have to talk to Ozpin about this." Shade stated.

"Agreed." Weiss said.

"_No Hunter! You do not eat Gravity Dust!_" they heard Petra shout through the wall, followed by a large crashing sound.

"What happened to him?" Weiss asked.

"Anti-headache medicine. Never give it to him. Ever." Shade answered.

**[...]**

In another part of Remnant, Atlas to be specific, General James Ironwood was standing on a catwalk overlooking a massive steel machine that had been pulled from the ocean a week earlier.

"General, we're ready to start reverse engineering it." a scientist stated.

"Fine, proceed." he answered.

Said machine was 'laying' inside their largest hangar in Atlas. It looked like it was some kind of giant robot, only missing one arm which had later been located about two hundred meters away from it.

From the initial examination, the robot had been severely damaged, the torso had dozens of claw marks, and several sheets of metal were missing, presumably by whatever this thing had fought. The head of it was also examined and the inside of it looked to be some kind of cockpit to pilot the massive machine.

The damage to the machine looked almost irreparable. However that was what reverse engineering was for. The most confusing part about it however, was the large circular object in the center of it's chest piece. It was most likely the power source for the machine given its size and location.

James knew he would have to talk to Ozpin about this, such a machine just 'appearing' out of nowhere was simply impossible.

After a few hours passed, several of the scientists reported.

"General Ironwood sir, we've finished the complete examination." the scientist said.

"And what did you find?" James asked.

"Well, we've found that all of the extremities and robotics draw their power from the central device fixed in the chest piece," he said "but we have also discovered that the device is lined with a thick layer of lead, presumably to block some kind of signal or radiation from either getting in or out."

"Have you found out what kind of Dust can power such a device?" James asked.

"That's also what's confusing us, the entire configuration isn't set up to be powered by Dust, and we haven't been able to open the power supply due to several warnings and complications posted throughout the device, which also describe it as a 'nuclear reactor'." the scientist explained.

This confused the General greatly.

"What are these warnings?" he asked.

"They warn about severe nuclear radiation from inside the reactor, and to be frank, I would rather not find out what this 'nuclear' radiation can do to a person." the scientist stated "and until we can find a safe way to open and examine the device, I suggest we focus on repairing and possibly improving the entire machine. It could be a very valuable military asset."

"Very well, focus on repairs and construction until we can find a way to safely examine the reactor." James ordered.

He would be heading to Vale in a couple of weeks. And he would be having a very unpleasant conversation with headmaster Ozpin about this, as well as another issue.

**[...]**

Meanwhile on another planet, a man and a woman in futuristic armor walked into a tram passenger car. "_Next stop Armory," _an automated voice announced as the tram departed.

"I swear Kimball and Doyle argued more than discuss the mission they gave us." the man said to the woman.

"I know but they were right about how serious this mission is." the woman replied. "We need to get those munitions and food rations everyone desperately needs."

"Are you sure that the idiots can handle being bait for Locus and Felix's troops?" the man asked.

"They have to so that everyone else can get the supplies. Besides, we are going to be right there with them." the woman quickly responded.

The man sighed. "As long as I don't get run over again, I'll be okay with the mission."

"What about a grappling hook to the balls?" the woman remarked.

"You are never going to let me forget that, are you." The man griped as the woman was the reason why that happened.

The woman laughed. "Nope!"

"_Now arriving at the Armory."_ the automated voice announced as the doors to the tram opened up. The man and woman stepped out and made their way to where the rest of their friends were at.

"Well, should you tell them or should I?" the man asked.

"I'll tell the idiots," the woman responded. "They'll listen to what I have to say."

**[...]**

**A/N: Well guys here is the second promised chapter and I hope it explained some things. Also, those of you who had followed this story since the beginning probably are going to be excited for the next chapter. I know you have waited over a year for it.**

**Now for some important news. The following chapters will return to the normal schedule of once I complete it, I will upload it. Also I will be going on my family's annual vacation up into the mountains to help clear my head and refresh. I do not want to burn out on this story. So look forward to the next chapter releasing in September.**

**Now onto the reviews!**

**MarauderPrime12: Thank you.**

**LordMatthaios: I'm glad you are enjoying the story.**

**TheSilentChloey: Surprise! I'm glad you liked that last chapter and hope this one answered some questions.**

**Hamm1999: SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS! Sorry but I won't be answering any more spoilers. But as for when in the TF2 timeline, it is after the comics are over.**

**Ultimatrix bearer: Surprised you didn't I? And thank you.**

**Well that's everything for this chapter. Look forward to chapter 27! Have a great day everyone.**


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